By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Tuesday asked Kerala Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan to break his silence on the multi-million Lavalin scam in which ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is an accused.
Addressing reporters after the liaison committee meeting of the UDF, convenor P.P.Thankachen said Achuthanandan should boldly say everything.
“When the Lavalin issue took place, Achuthanandan and Vijayan were close buddies and the former was the Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor. He should boldly say what happened and his government should give the sanction to prosecute Vijayan, now that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked for it,” said Thankachen.
Vijayan, now an arch rival of Achuthanandan, awarded a contract to Canadian firm SNC Lavalin when he was the state’s power minister in 1997.
The Kerala High Court Monday asked Vijayan and three other accused for their response to a petition seeking their prosecution.
“In case the Achuthanandan government does not take steps to prosecute Vijayan, we will launch an intensive strike to see that sanction is given,” said Thankachen.
Thankachen also lashed out at Vijayan’s state-wide march that began Monday.
“This is the biggest joke because the march is being led by corrupt Vijayan who is involved in one of the biggest scams in the history of the country. Even the Bofors case was a mere Rs. 75 crore (Rs.750 million), while this one is in excess of Rs. 350 crore (Rs.3.5 billion),” said Thankachen.
As the first step to put pressure on Achuthanandan, the UDF is organising a protest march in all the 14 district headquarters Saturday.