Latest news with #M.V.Govindan
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
CPI(M) alleges corruption and preferential treatment in award of NH-66 work
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat has flagged alleged big-ticket corruption and preferential treatment in the award of contracts for National Highway-66 construction work in Kerala. CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told a press conference that contractors involved in NH-66 construction in Kerala had executed electoral bonds estimated at ₹980 crore in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for official patronage in the award of Central works. He noted that in 2023, the BJP had accused the construction firm responsible for the collapse of an elevated section of the under-construction NH-66 in Malappuram district on May 19 of astronomical corruption, pegged at ₹38,000 crore, in executing the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana. He said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had surmounted several political and administrative impediments, including impossible conditions set by the Central government, to make NH-66, a project abandoned by the Oommen Chandy government, a reality. Mr. Govindan said the Centre made an unusual demand that Kerala pay for the land acquisition, prompting the State to raise ₹6,000 crore via the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board as compensation to landowners. The CPI(M) lauded Union Minister for Road and Highways Nitin Gadkari for blacklisting the errant construction company and taking proactive steps to expedite the rectification works. He said the Congress leadership attempted to blame the NH-66 collapse on the LDF despite the government having no role in the work execution. Mr. Govindan said the Congress' opposition to the LDF lacked political or policy content and was patently hollow and catalysed by pure political spite and envy for the State government's nine years of people-centric good governance. 'The Congress has recurrently attempted to derail Kerala's development. It made the anti-development campaign a political programme after the LDF stormed back to power for a second consecutive term on a development and welfare platform in 2021. The United Democratic Front then realised that rhetoric, hyperbole, muckraking, and grandstanding do not win elections. But development, welfare, and public service delivery do,' he said. Mr. Govindan said neither the elections, politics, nor policy animated the Congress as much as infighting for the prospective Chief Ministership did. 'K Sudhakaran, K. Muraleedharan, V.D. Satheesan, Shashi Tharoor, and Ramesh Chennithala have thrown their hat into the ring. Other dark horses might enter the ruthless rat race for the elusive title,' he said.
The Hindu
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Vigilance set to expand probe into ‘trap case' involving ED official
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) seemed set to expand its probe into the high-profile 'trap case' in Kochi that allegedly revealed a 'bribe-for-legal reprieve' scheme involving an Enforcement Directorate (ED) official and his facilitators, including a chartered accountant. According to officials privy to the highly sensitive probe, the VACB is reportedly poised to summon the suspect ED official for questioning. It has not ruled out the possibility that more 'victims of the corruption racket' would reach out to the law for justice. Tools deployed Officials said the racketeers relied on encrypted digital communication, difficult-to-trace internet telephony, and Mumbai-based bank accounts for criminal purposes. The agency was reportedly mapping the racket's digital footprints. It has reportedly sought the transaction history of the bank accounts operated by the suspects and their 'front persons' who provided financial cover to the 'racketeers'. Official sources said the 'criminal operation,' prima facie, seemed entrenched and not a one-off offence. Recording statements The VACB is reportedly contemplating recording the sworn statements of the 'go-betweens' in the alleged bribery racket in camera before the jurisdictional magistrate if any of the 'intermediaries' came forward of their own volition. Officials said the accused possibly faced serious legal jeopardy, given that the ED must mandatorily register an anti-money laundering case predicated on the FIR registered by the VACB. Meanwhile, the businessperson who helped the VACB spring the trap case publicly recounted the 'duress and humiliation' he underwent at the hands of the Central agency's top officials at their regional office in Kochi. Officials said the petitioner had made a comparable statement to the VACB, arguably necessitating further probe, possibly also under the penal provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Congress, CPI(M) criticism Meanwhile, the ED drew scathing criticism from the ruling front and Opposition. Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M. V. Govindan said the Kochi case was the tip of the iceberg. He said the ED officials performed hatchet jobs for the BJP, which allowed them to enrich themselves through extortion, intimidation, and bribes. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said that ED cases rarely resulted in convictions. The BJP used the agency to disparage opponents and extort money for its political operations. He said more cases would come to light.
The Hindu
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rajeev Chandrasekhar wangled an official invitation to Vizhinjam port commissioning: Govindan
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Kerala State secretary M.V. Govindan has accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar of wangling an official invitation to the commissioning of the Vizhinjam International Seaport through the Prime Minister's Office. He alleged at a press conference here on Monday that Mr. Chandrasekhar had made a spectacle of himself by being on the dais hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival and resorting to sloganeering to put the BJP's political stamp on the national event. Mr. Govindan said the Kerala government bore the lion's share of the project cost. In contrast, the BJP-led Union government limited itself to a minimal viability gap funding loan. He said the CPI(M) would organise many programmes to honour those who resisted the Emergency on June 29, the 50th anniversary of the Congress government's constitutional overreach.
