Chandys poser to VS on Palmolein case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy came down heavily on Opposition Leader V S Achuthanadan’s reported remarks that he knew everything related to the palmolein case long ago but chose to remain silent to cash in on the rift between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions of the Congress.      During a post-Cabinet briefing held here on Wednesday, Chandy asked as to what Achuthanandan had done on the case when he was the chief minister for five years. “Even after claiming now that he knew fully well that there was corruption in the deal and I was involved, what had he done  when he was Chief Minister?’’ he asked. “I’ve nothing to hide nor anything to fear about in the case,’’ Chandy reiterated. To buttress his stand, Chandy also produced at the post-Cabinet briefing a booklet authored by  Achuthanandan on the palmolein case which was published by Chintha Publications in 1994. The title of the book proclaims that late Chief Minister K Karunakaran as the first accused in the case. ‘’The book was presented to me by those associated  with Achuthanandan himself,’’ Chandy said. He pointed out that Achuthanandan had not mentioned his name as an accused anywhere in the book. ‘’The palmolein case was developed by none other than Achuthanandan,’’ Chandy said. ‘’Since I had nothing to fear, I insisted that the special public prosecutor  appointed by the former LDF government should continue in the Vigilance case. The appointment was a political one and usually when a government changes, the appointee will resign on his own or will be removed. But we insisted on his continuance,’’ Chandy said. He criticised the stance of the prosecutor who had quit the post stating that his signature was not taken by VACB officials before filing the report in the Vigilance court. ‘’Even during Achuthanandan’s term as chief minister, the prosecutor never cared to sign any report submitted to the court,’’ Chandy said. On the ‘hair row’ involving a Sunni faction and the critical stance of CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on the issue, the Chief Minister chose not to take any definite stand. ‘’I’m not a pundit to comment on it,’’he said. ‘’It is better for politicians not to interfere in religion. But in a country like India, can anyone control others?’’ he asked jokingly.