Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State committee has stoutly defended Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against what it termed concerted attacks by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to cast the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government under a permanent cloud of suspicion of corruption and nepotism in the award and execution of the multi-crore Keltron-configured traffic enforcement camera system and Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON) contracts.
Addressing the press after a three-day leadership meeting of the party at its State headquarters at the AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, Mr. Govindan said Congress, BJP, and the right-wing media had conspired to rob the LDF government’s second anniversary of its sheen by laying down a smokescreen of slanderous lies against the administration.
He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lent his voice to the neo-liberal forces intent on denigrating Kerala and dismissing the ‘stellar achievements’ of LDF rule.
Mr. Govindan, who appeared combative at times, blamed the media for blindly amplifying the Opposition’s lies. He dwelled mainly on the controversial Keltron deal.
Mr. Govindan countered the Opposition by stating that the government had so far not spent a penny from the public exchequer for implementing the ₹232 crore artificial intelligence-enabled automated traffic offence detection system that covers the State almost entirely.
‘Parroting the same lie’
He said Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, and BJP State president parroted the same lie that the government awarded the contract, allowed cartel formation and bid rigging to advantage politically favoured firms at an unjustifiable loss to the public exchequer. They concealed the fact that Keltron awarded the project to a consortium of companies on a Built Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) basis.
On sub-contracting
Moreover, he said the Opposition erroneously saw a crime in Keltron sub-contracting other firms to implement different components of the extensive traffic surveillance network. He said Central Vigilance Commission has not outlawed sub-contracting —moreover, the tender sanctions outsourcing work. “Even global corporations outsource components and systems integration. The MVD owns the surveillance data and the systems, not any private player,” he said.
Mr. Govindan reminded the leaders that their past recriminatory campaigns against Mr. Vijayan had failed. Citizens voted the LDF back to power with a higher majority in the 2021 Assembly elections. He said a tug-of-war between Mr. Satheesan and Mr. Chennithala for prominence in the UDF prompted both to outdo each other in airing ‘defamatory lies’ against Mr. Vijayan.
