Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought to know the reason why the Opposition Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) decided to boycott the Navakerala Sadas, which was a platform for raising a united voice for the sake of the State irrespective of all differences of opinion.
Inaugurating the penultimate Navakerala Sadas in Thripunithura Assembly constituency, Mr. Vijayan said neither the Leader of the Opposition nor anyone else had clarified the reason for the boycott yet. The Navakerala Sadas had the twin objectives of presenting before the people the progress made by the State and the projects needed to take that progress forward and how the Central government was trying to sabotage that progress by putting up hurdles at every turn.
“Which of these aspects was anathema to the Opposition? The disappointment of the Central government and the party leading it against such an initiative is understandable. But one cannot understand what stopped the Opposition from cooperating with the Navakerala Sadas. In fact, neither the Leader of the Opposition nor the Congress leadership could convince their own workers about it,” said Mr. Vijayan.
He accused the Opposition of harbouring an attitude to see the State suffer as was reflected in the approach of the 18 UDF MPs who at no point questioned the Centre’s attempt to financially strangulate Kerala. The Chief Minister also sought to taunt Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan by reminding the audience of what he described as the “resounding success” of the Navakerala Sadas in North Paravur, Mr. Satheesan’s constituency.
“The Leader of the Opposition and his followers unfurled a negative campaign against the Navakerala Sadas. But, by then people had realised that it was time to stay united when the State was facing a crisis, and that it was time to turn up rather than stay away. People flocked to the Navakerala Sadas, and it turned out to be a resounding success. The next day, the Leader of the Opposition stooped to a level alleging that people were threatened to attend and traders were threatened to illuminate shops by Goods and Service Tax officials, which was ridiculous,” said Mr. Vijayan.
Earlier Ministers K.N. Rajagopal, K. Rajan, and Kadannappally Ramachandran addressed the gathering.
