By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Wednesday expressed his displeasure at the Election Commission stopping the scheme of giving rice at Rs.2 per kg to all ration card holders deeming it a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
“May be some political parties have influenced the decision of the chief electoral officer here, so we have written to the Chief Election Commissioner. There should be no bias, because Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee sanctioned travel concessions for girl students and in Tamil Nadu, tax breaks were given on oil products after the Model Code of Conduct came into force,” Achuthanandan told reporters.
The chief electoral officer had Tuesday asked the government to put the scheme on hold. The state goes to polls April 13.
The scheme to provide rice at subsidised rates was announced in the state budget.
“Earlier, this scheme was available to four million families and in our last budget we extended the scheme irrespective of the category. The order to this effect came out on Feb 25 and the model code of conduct became applicable only from the evening of March 1. So where is the violation,” Achuthanandan said.
“Why is Kerala being singled out,” he asked.