Keralam Electricity Minister’s statements on GNA deal disprove CM’s claims, says Pinarayi Vijayan

Reiterating his demand for a judicial inquiry headed by a High Court judge into the controversy surrounding the cancellation of the GNA power purchase deal, Keralam Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday that all the claims made so far by the Chief Minister regarding the power contract have been proved to be factually incorrect going by Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph’s statements.

“With the Minister himself openly stating that the KSEB did not exert pressure to procure power and that the GNA contract is unfeasible, the Chief Minister’s credibility has been completely shattered. The Chief Minister, who had previously dismissed with contempt the Opposition’s allegation that GNA was merely an intermediary agency, rather than a power producer or a licensed trader, has now been corrected by his own Minister. The Electricity Minister’s remarks substantiate our position that the Chief Minister only withdrew from the contract after the Opposition caught the irregularities red-handed,” said Mr. Vijayan.

He said that the public is well aware that the Chief Minister had repeatedly asserted that the decision in favour of GNA was his own.

“It is now, therefore, beyond any doubt that these irregular moves and suspicious interventions were carried out either with the Chief Minister’s direct knowledge or under his leadership in a completely unilateral manner. When the controversy intensified, the Chief Minister attempted to evade responsibility by shifting the blame onto an official. A member of the Cabinet has publicly contradicted the very points that the CM had officially announced following a Cabinet meeting. This exposes deep divisions within the Cabinet and a complete lack of collective responsibility,” he said.

Mr. Vijayan asked whether the CM was prepared to accept responsibility and apologise for causing hardship to the people by manufacturing a non-existent power crisis.