Cites BJP’s remarks on Vadra and the project
Citing BJP leader O. Rajagopal’s remarks on the
links Congress high command and Robert Vadra had with the private parties
behind the Aranmula airport project, CPI district secretary P. Prasad sought an
explanation from the PMO and the Congress (I) on the matter.
Mr. Rajagopal had reportedly made the remark
while inaugurating a public meeting here last week.
Citing the remark, Mr. Prasad said in a
statement on Wednesday that the Prime Minister’s Office and the Congress(I)
leadership needed to explain themselves for the “over-enthusiasm and undue
interest” the Congress showed in the project.
Clearence
According to Mr Prasad, the authorities of the
Chennai-based KGS Aranmula International Greenfield Airport Limited had stated
at a press conference in Pathanamthitta that Prime Minister’s Advisor T.K.A.
Nair, had helped them a lot in getting the Centre’s clearance for the airport
project.
It was an open secret that the private company
had managed to obtain clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment by
‘misleading’ the authorities and with strong support from the
politico-bureaucratic higher-ups in Delhi, alleged Mr Prasad.
Environment report
The Environment Impact Assessment report,
submitted to the Centre, had not even mentioned that the land identified for
the project involved paddy fields and wetland, he alleged. Mr Prasad said Prof
P.J. Kurien, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha; Anto Antony, local MP, and K.
Sivadasan Nair, MLA, were acting as spokespersons of the private company.
The public ire against these people’s
representatives in the village was so intense that they were unable to freely
attend public meetings in Aranmula as earlier, he added.
According to Mr Prasad, a probe was needed into
what prompted these public figures to extend blind and unconditional support to
the controversial airport project when the entire village, which constituted
their strong vote base, strongly opposed the project.
Chandy backing firm
Mr Prasad further alleged that Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy, too, was out to protect the interests of the private company by
consciously sidelining his promise given to the villagers for denotifying the
nearly 2,500 acres of land in Aranmula that had been illegally notified as
industrial area in February, 2011.
No right
The CPI leader said Mr Chandy had no moral right
to continue in office, as he had purposefully misled even the State Assembly on
his promise to cancel the denotification of the area.
He also alleged that the UDF government was
making every attempt to legalise the irregularities and wrongdoings carried out
by the private parties in the name of the airport project in Aranmula.
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