On Friday, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempted to force the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government against the ropes by accusing the administration of courting wealthy expatriate donors to sponsor the Loka Kerala Sabha’s (LKS) regional conclave in the United States of America in mid-June.
They alleged that the government reserved the LKS’s high table for the wealthy and powerful. The lakhs of ordinary expatriates, who endured the daily deprivations of an exile’s life in cramped labour camps, were “unrepresented” in the forum.
The Congress and the BJP also highlighted alleged instances of NRI investors driven to desperation after sinking their life savings in projects hobbled by “administrative red tape and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)‘s political highhandedness”.
The Opposition parties also maintained that the “biennial extravagance” had yielded no tangible benefits for the State.
They alleged the LDF’s ambitious bid to harness the resources and expertise of emigrant Malayalis for the State’s development was a “non-starter”.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala termed the event a CPI(M) fundraiser. “Only rich sponsors could interact with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” he alleged.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accused the LDF of using government machinery to organise the foreign junket when the State faced a severe financial crisis. He said the public, saddled by special cesses and excessive taxation, was least enamoured by Mr. Vijayan’s “expensive foreign jaunt”.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran demanded an independent audit of LKS’s funding. He said the public finally picked up the tab for Mr. Vijayan’s USA trip. “It is a CPI(M) exercise at the expense of wealthy donors to boost Mr Vijayan’s sense of self-importance,” he said.
BJP president K. Surendran demanded the government abandon the trip in the public interest.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) mounted a stout defence against the accusations. CPI(M) central secretariat member A.K. Balan said the party saw no wrong in the government’s bid to raise sponsorship for the event.
He said that by casting aspersions on the LKS, the Opposition parties insulted expatriates and their invaluable contribution to the State’s growth.
