Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said there have been conscious efforts to pit the Left Democratic Front (LDF) against the Nair Service Society (NSS).
Speaking at a press meet here in Kollam on Thursday, he said some parties had been striving to declare the NSS and the LDF enemies by misinterpreting his statements and blowing them out of proportion. Asserting that there was no clash between the NSS and the LDF he said: “the NSS leadership wanted to know why the government has been ignoring their demand to declare Mannam Jayanthi a holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act. But in reality, the Reserve Bank of India has rejected our recommendation due to some legal hassles. Also, the LDF government is the first in the country to implement the reservation for poor among forward communities.”
Reacting to the latest allegations of the Opposition that the Chief Minister's office was aware of the deal with EMCC International Private Limited, a multinational corporation based in the United States, he said the entire project was part of a conspiracy from the very beginning and the EMCC head contesting against Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma in Kundara pointed to that fact.
“In Kerala, the government has the support of fishers. It is an attempt to instigate them against the government by trying to convince the fishers that we have done something that threatens their rights and livelihood. A person who is known as ‘dallal' (broker) was also involved in this and there is nothing wrong in a bureaucrat in an official position getting in touch with the Chief Minister's office or the additional private secretary responding to it. A probe has been launched into the conspiracy and everything will be brought to light eventually.”
Criticising the Kollam diocese of the Latin Catholic Church for its pastoral letter against the State government, Mr. Vijyan said the church authorities simply copied the allegations raised by the Opposition and they should rethink about the act. “When they reproduce the fake stories spread by political parties against the government, their authority and credibility will be questioned,” he said.
Slamming the Opposition for attempts to sabotage the distribution of free ration kits and welfare pensions, Mr. Vijyan said the Leader of the Opposition wanted to see the people suffer. He said the government was not distributing kits for some temporary votes, but for the welfare of the public. “They are trying to stop the relief measure, something beneficial to all sections,” said the Chief Minister who also attacked the Election Commission for its decision to put the elections to three Rajya Sabha seats on hold.
