THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Saturday said the ongoing protests against the SilverLine project was politically motivated and hence the party and government would deal with it politically.
"Protests are not new for us. It's from us the Congress has learned how to protest. UDF still has considerable political power and presence in the state. UDF, BJP, SDPI and Jamaat e Islami are trying to incite public sentiments against the project. The LDF government won't dump the development project by succumbing to the political pressure of the opposition," Balakrishnan told reporters at AKG Centre. Balakrishnan, who accused the Congress of siding with the BJP in the protest against SilverLine, said the party and government were committed to overcoming all agitations against the project. "False campaigns are galore against the project. The boundary stone laying is only to facilitate the environmental study being initiated. It doesn't mean that the entire land where boundary stones are laid would be taken over for the project," he said.
The party president said it was quite natural that police would try to do their assigned duty. "We are not someone who hasn't suffered from police action. Altercations during protests are not uncommon. So are arrests of women. Of course, clear instructions have been given against police resorting to brutalities, including firing at people," the CPM state secretary said.
"By instigating violent protests, the opposition may be striving hard to see whether a Nandigram could be re-enacted in Kerala. But that's not going to happen," he said.
If the LDF government had stood stunned and abandoned projects fearing protesters, the GAIL pipeline, NH widening and Nedumon-Kochi power evacuation line would still have remained as dreams, he added. "If the protest is not politically motivated, why do leaders travel from place to place and fuel agitation?," he said.
Balakrishnan also rejected LJD leader M V Shreyams Kumar's statement that CPI won the Rajya Sabha seat through bargaining. "CPI is not a party that resorts to such bargaining. It was a decision taken by the LDF that two seats should be shared by CPM and CPI," he added.
