While the Kerala unit of the BJP demanded a judicial probe into the fire at Government Secretariat on Tuesday that ravaged hundreds of sensitive files, the opposition Congress wanted an investigation by one of the central agencies into the incident.
K Surendran, president of the Kerala BJP alleged that there was a concerted attempt by the CPI(M)-led government to sabotage the probe into the fire mishap. “Though the Kerala Government constituted a special team led by Manoj Abraham, ADGP to probe the reasons behind the fire, four members of the council of ministers have come out stating four different reasons behind the fire. This is unprecedented and unusual in this State,” said Surendran who questioned the propriety behind the action of the said ministers.
“We have a utopian cabinet in Kerala, the mission of which is to bury the truth once and for ever. This could be brought to light only by a judicial probe,” said the BJP leader while speaking to reporters at the capital city on Thursday. Early in the day, three ministers, G Sudhakaran, Kadakampalli Surendran and Thomas Issac had listed fur reasons behind the fire mishap.
“The BJP and the Opposition have heinous intentions behind the allegations. This is the best ever government Kerala has seen in its history,” said Kadakampalli, the Marxist minister in charge of the Temples in the State.
Ramesh Chennithala, called on Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and submitted a memorandum seeking a probe by a central agency into the fire mishap. “Everything associated with this government is enmeshed in massive corruption. The Gold Smuggling cartel is controlled by the Chief Minister’s Office while the LIFE Mission houses built by the Government for the poor are not at all safe for the people to live. I checked the apartments and found that the whole structure would come down in strong winds and rainfall. The lives of the people who are going to stay in these apartments are at risk,” said Chennithala.
With hardly three days to go for Onam, the “national” festival of the Keralaites, the State is under the grip of anti-Government agitations and the Covid pandemic.