By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : With just two days left for the staging of ‘Emerging Kerala’ – a programme to showcase Kerala to the world, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is hoping against hope that the opposition Left will cooperate and take part in the three-day event that is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Kochi Wednesday.
“We have been talking to the opposition informally and we expect that they will be there because all the fears and doubts expressed by them with regard to the event have turned out to be wrong. Even if they do not come, the state of Kerala is going to see what this event is all about,” said Chandy to reporters.
‘Emerging Kerala’ is an attempt by the state government to showcase the numerous opportunities that the state has to offer to 2500 investors who are going to come in from 52 countries, besides ambassadors, high commissioners, ministers and top CEOs from all major companies in the country numbering 300.
“It’s quite natural for political parties to take divergent stands on issues. What should be highlighted is the massive response to our invitations at a time when the global economy is not that rosy. This clearly shows that Kerala has potential,” reminded Chandy.
Thanks to the media, a huge hue and cry was raised after the website of ‘Emerging Kerala’ carried each and every proposal that was put up leading to the assumption that all these proposals had been cleared.
This came in handy for the CPI-M led by leader of opposition V.S. Achuthanandan asking that the programme should be called off.
“Not an inch of land as feared would be given away in the name of bringing in investment. Nothing would be done which will be detrimental to the interests of the state,” added Chandy.
Echoing the age-old statement of the CPI-M, party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters that the presence of the US team was a point of concern because their policies are well-known.
“The whole programme has been shabbily arranged with no discussions with the opposition. We just cannot cooperate with any project that is going to be nothing more than a real estate deal. Look at the numerous scandals that have surfaced at the centre and this event is going to be one which is going to see massive corruption,” said Vijayan.
An all-party meeting called by the Chandy government to discuss the programme was boycotted by the Left opposition and hence no discussion took place between the government and the opposition.