Ensuring a clean and pollution-free Ernakulam, affordable healthcare for all, and all-round progress of the coastal population figure top among the development priorities of P. Rajeev, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency.
“Lack of clean air is a major problem here. We also need clean drinking water and a solution to the mounting garbage woes using modern technology,” he said at a meet-the-press organised by the Ernakulam Press Club here on Saturday.
Maintaining that he wanted a development perspective with people’s participation, Mr. Rajeev said Kochi’s water scarcity issues and problems faced by the traditional industry and farming sector had to be addressed.
“An enhanced transport system combining the metro, road and water transport, and MEMU services has to be evolved. The metro’s Kakkanad extension will be another priority. A scientific underground sewage system also figures among the development priorities outlined by the LDF,” he said.
Asked whether the UDF decision to replace K.V. Thomas with Hibi Eden as its candidate would impact his electoral fortunes, Mr. Rajeev said he was not concerned about the opponent. We should not underestimate voters. They have a clear perspective of the candidate of their choice, and they are expecting a change this time,” he claimed.
On a question whether Chalakudy was a safe option for him, Mr. Rajeev said he had a deep relationship with Ernakulam. “I will not get this kind of support anywhere else. It is here that I had worked all along,” he added.
Mr. Rajeev said there had been a definitive change in voters’ support for the LDF in Ernakulam since 2009. “We can no longer say that any particular community or group could decide the prospects of the candidates here,” he said.
The LDF candidate listed the development of the dialysis centre at Government Hospital, Aluva, various projects implemented at Government General Hospital, Ernakulam, and the railway overbridge at Edappally as among the various achievements that he could earn