Kerala: CPI(M) state committee asks ministers to improve performance

Referring to the government-governor tussle over renewing 11 ordinances which subsequently lapsed on August 8, the CPI(M) Politburo members said attempts had begun to target the government using the governor.

“The attack on the government has been stepped up. The governor is meddling in matters in an undemocratic manner. The government and governor should work together as two constitutional bodies but the act of the governor does not reflect it. His interventions would weaken the democratic process. His move against the government is deliberate. In many other states, governments had been torpedoed using the governor. In Kerala also, there are certain moves in that direction,” Balakrishnan said, adding that the government would go for constitutional remedies to overcome the crisis.

He said the party directed the government to give special attention to developmental projects, especially those which could not be completed during its previous stint.

“Justice should be ensured to all. The government should work on schemes which can attract more people to it and ensure justice for all,” Balakrishnan said. “The party wants to strengthen its intervention in the media sector. There would be an effort to increase the daily circulation of party daily Deshabhimani to 10 lakh copies,” he added.

Making a veiled attack on party leaders calling the shots in government offices, Balakrishnan said the party should not move around the orbit of parliamentary politics. The party, at the local level, should take up people’s issues, he added.

Referring to the amendment of the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act, Balakrishnan said it has given an extraordinary power which a Supreme Court or high court has. “The issue is whether the Kerala Lok Ayukta should have powers to that extent. The Legislative Assembly, which begins on August 22, would discuss the amendment,” he said.

Balakrishnan alleged that the Union Government has taken a discriminatory approach on developmental projects in the state. The fall in revenue grant and discontinuation of GST compensation have adversely impacted the development of the state, he added. “There is an attempt to weaken the government. Being the only Left government in the country, the party would make an all-out attempt to protect it,” he said.