Congress legislator Mathew Kuzhalnadan on Monday sought to put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala in the dock for big-ticket corruption by accusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of permitting a Kochi-based mining firm to quarry mineral-rich sand at “throwaway prices” from the expansive backwater channel leading to the spillway at Thottapally in Alappuzha district.
At a press conference here, Mr. Kuzhalnadan said Mr. Vijayan’s “largesse” to the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) in 2020 cost the public exchequer ₹40,000 crore by a conservative estimate. “The money could have helped the government easily avoid the current financial crisis,” he said.
