Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran has said that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has been downgraded as a franchise of the AKG Centre under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) regime.
Speaking to mediapersons after concluding the ‘Janamaha Yatra’ of the KPCC in the district here on Thursday, Mr. Ramachandran said the stance of the State government on the Sabarimala issue had inflicted a wound in the minds of the Hindu community.
Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced that the government would support the devotees, the stance adopted by the government in Supreme Court was against it, Mr. Ramachandran said.
‘‘The stand of the TDB is a wavering one,’’ Mr. Ramachandran said adding that it was owing to the pressure of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. The government had taken the Sabarimala issue to divert the attention from the crisis related to the recent deluge in the State, he said.
‘‘The media restrictions imposed by the government from December has been continuing in the State,’’ Mr. Ramachandran said adding that such a move was against the core of democratic values, including freedom of press freedom of expression.
Hence such cultural fascist restrictions should be withdrawn, he said.
The government had no commitment to the farming community as it had failed to take positive steps to address the crisis of farmers, he said. The moratorium announced by the State government on repayment of agricultural, dairy and education loans would increase the financial burden of the farming community as they had to repay a huge amount, including the penal interest, of the loan next year.
Hence, the government should write off farmer loans up to ₹2 lakh, instead of showing gimmicks such as announcing moratorium, Mr. Ramachandran said.