Kerala’s CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF on Sunday decided to call off all agitations it had been conducting since July last demanding the resignation of Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the infamous solar scam in which he was accused of direct involvement.
As per the decision taken at a meeting of the lDF leadership in Thiruvananthapuram, the front would end the controversial siege to Cliff House, the official residence of the Chief Minister at the State capital, the black-flag demonstrations against him at all places of his programmes and boycott of his public functions.
The black-flag protests and boycott of Chandy’s programmes had been going on since the very start of the agitation over the solar scam in July while the 140-day siege to Cliff House had started earlier this month. In a surprise move in August, the lDF had called off its “indefinite” siege to the State Secretariat over the same issue within 30 hours of its start.
Critics have termed the lDF decision as a proof of the “politics of understanding” being pursued by the Opposition and the Congress-led ruling UDF. State BJP general secretary K Surendran alleged that this understanding had always been there in the case of the agitations right from their start and the ending of the Secretariat siege was a telling example of this.
However, lDF convener Vaikom Viswan told newsmen after the meeting that the decision was taken in the context of the Assembly session starting January 3 and the coming lok Sabha elections. He said that the Opposition would now raise the issue within the Assembly and outside but there would be no move to stall the House’s proceedings.
The “Cliff House siege” was withdrawn in the face of protests from front constituents CPI and RSP which had alleged that the agitation had become a political ritual. However, the CPI(M) had rejected the same argument during a meeting of the front on December 19. This stir had also faced stiff protests from the local people.
The lDF had launched the agitations in July last demanding Chandy’s resignation and inclusion of his office in a judicial probe into the solar scam. However, all the protests had failed to force Chandy to resign or to get an assurance from him that his office would be included in the terms of reference of the judicial probe that was already underway.
The scam pertains to the duping of many people of several crores of rupees by perpetrators Saritha S Nair and her former husband Biju Radhakrishnan promising to install solar power plants. The duo had perpetrated the scam by misusing the Chief Minister’s office with the help of his aides and this led to the allegation of Chandy’s personal and direct involvement.