By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The Kerala assembly adjourned sine die Thursday, the last day of the current session, after the Congress-led opposition stalled the proceedings by squatting in the well of the house from the start of question hour.
The opposition has been up in arms since the start of the session, early this month, demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the controversial purchase of land by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
ISRO had purchased 82 acres of forestland in Ponmudi, 75 km from here, from high-profile businessman Savy Mano Mathew to set up a space education institute.
The opposition maintains that the land belongs to the forest department and was sold in connivance with Forest Minister Binoy Viswom.
Mathew is Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s nominee in one of the state run corporations.
For the last four days, five legislators belonging to the five allies of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have been on an indefinite fast in the foyer of the assembly. The fast was called off Thursday.
“The first phase of the protest by us is over and since the assembly has been adjourned, the ongoing fast has been called off. We are going to launch a series of protests all across the state,” said leader of opposition Oommen Chandy.
Ever since scandal erupted, Achuthanandan has been criticising leader of opposition Oommen Chandy saying it was the Congress that helped Mathew usurp forestland through a bill it piloted in 2005, when it was in power.
“This is a ploy by the opposition to raise a non-issue. And they are doing this because they smell an early general election and wish to use this against us. You wait and see. We will bring out the truth,” Achuthanandan told reporters Wednesday night.
The Kerala government had Tuesday suspended a top forest department official, transferred two, and ordered an inquiry into the role of five other officials involved in the deal.
Meanwhile, a special vigilance court here Thursday accepted a petition against the sale of forestland by Mathew and posted the case for hearing next Wednesday.
The Kerala chapter of the Indian Lawyers Congress had filed a petition against the sale.
Interestingly, both Achuthanandan and Chandy have been named witnesses in the case.
Communist Party of India (CPI), to which Viswom belongs, is in a quandary because this is the first time it is caught in a corruption scandal.
Fissures have also developed within the LDF. Kerala Congress (Joseph), an ally, is cut up with both the communist parties after they failed to defend T.U. Kuruvilla, their nominee in the cabinet, who was forced to quit following another land scam.
Kuruvilla quit the cabinet a few hours before the present session of the assembly began.
The ruling LDF has started a meeting to discuss the latest political scenario.