Stealing a march over his political rivals, 93-year old CPI(M) veteran VS Achuthanandan on Tuesday launched the Left Democratic Front (LDF) campaign for the May 2016 Assembly polls in Kerala with a blistering attack on Congress-led ruling UDF and BJP-BDJS combine.
Braving the heat, the Opposition leader in the outgoing state Assembly addressed a massive Left Democratic Front (LDF) convention at Malampuzha in the district, from where he is seeking re-election for the third time.
Attacking the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government, he alleged that the number of cases against the Chief Minister and other ministers pending in Lokayukta “itself was a proof of deep corruption” in the government.
Referring to controversial land assignment orders issued by the government in March just before the poll announcement, the former Chief Minister alleged that a total of 2,820 acres of land were given to “corporates and companions” of the government.
Targeting the BJP-led NDA, Achuthanandan accused the saffron party of trying to create communal divide in the state. He alleged that there were irregularities in a micro-finance scheme run by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), whose new party Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) is the second largest partner of NDA in the state.
He alleged that SNDP General Secretary Vellapally Natesan had joined hands with BJP to save himself in the case.
I have filed a case against Natesan at the Vigilance Court, Thiruvananthapuram.VS Achuthanandan, CPI(M)
The 29-year-old Kerala Student’s Union President VS Joy of Congress will be the UDF candidate against Achuthanandan. Joy, a law graduate, told PTI he was excited to get a Congress ticket and to challenge a politician such as Achuthanandan.
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