Kochi, Nov 14: Former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran today demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the financial crisis being faced by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state, leading to the reported treasury ban on payments.Talking to newspersons here, he said the inquiry commission should be a two-member body, including an economic expert, and it should be asked to submit its report within one or two months.He also demanded action against those found responsible for the financial mismangement as the situation was causing great concern to all.Expressing surprise over the developments that led to a treasury ban in the state, which had, however, been denied by finance minister T Sivadasa Menon yesterday, Karunakaran said the LDF government should explain to the people the reasons that led to the financial crisis in the state.Karunakaran said that, when he had taken over as chief minister in 1991, there was a Rs. 300 crore liability. But hisgovernment cleared all the liabilities and left a surplus of over Rs 400 crore when its term ended in 1996. Despite this, the ruling LDF had landed in grave financial problems, he added.Alleging that the LDF government had failed on all fronts, Karunakaran demanded its resignation as it had lost the moral right to continue in power.The 453-day long Manaviyam, the cultural extravaganza of the LDF government to usher in the new millennium, was a political gimmick to divert the attention of the people from its failures, he said.On the reported move by the LDF government to launch a television channel in the state with a projected cost of Rs 35 crore, the former chief minister said it was perhaps intended to fool the people by using the electronic media to propagate party programmes.On the reported move by the LDF government to prosecute him in the palmolein case by approaching the state Governor for sanction in this regard, he said the Governor had accorded sanction only to file a case and no sanctionhad been given to prosecute him. He, however, was not afraid of facing any inquiry, the former chief minister added.
