Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan had to face embarrassing moments at Kazhakuttam, near here, during his visit to a neighbourhood as part of an outreach programme against the SilverLine rail project on Saturday, when a family declared support for the project and announced willingness to give up their land for the proposed rail corridor.
Brushing aside the Minister’s attempt to highlight the drawbacks of the project, the family said they had no problem in parting with their land. Television footage of the incident showed a woman in the house raising slogans hailing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the LDF government’s approach to development. “We stand with the government and we want this project to be implemented,” she said.
‘CPI(M) connection’
Mr. Muraleedharan could be seen trying to talk to the family, only to be rebuffed with the reply that they were well-informed about the project. He later told mediapersons that his campaign was aimed at identifying those supporting and opposing the project and lending an ear to those apprehensive of losing land. Local BJP leaders who accompanied the Minister said the couple who had voiced their support for the project were the parents of a ward councillor representing the CPI(M).
Moving on to other houses in the locality as part of his campaign, Mr. Muraleedharan said the project would displace thousands of people and deprive them of their livelihood, besides pushing the State to a debt trap.
Meanwhile, the protests against the Silverline project resulted in tension at several places on Saturday. Youth League workers took out a march to the Secretariat here and district headquarters in other places. Police used water cannon to disperse the protestors in Thiruvananthapuram.
Protests were also held in Kochi, Kozhikode, Alappuzha, Malappuram, and Kasaragod. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, defended the LDF government’s flagship project at a meeting held in Kozhikode on Saturday.
