[1]Thiruvananthapuram: When the six member CPM politburo (PB) commission, led by Prakash Karat, visits Kerala after the current Parliament session, the biggest question it is likely to face is the E. Balanandan Committee report, related to the SNC Lavalin issue.
For State CPM Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, the issue could not have come at a worse time. His counsel, M.K. Damodaran’s view during the SNC Lavalin case hearing that Balanandan did not conduct an in-depth study regarding the modernisation of the Shnekulam, Panniyar and Pallivasal projects, has triggered the fresh round of controversy.
On Monday, the CPM General Secretary tried to play down the issue, saying that the Balanandan committee had gone into various aspects of power generation and not merely one issue.
The Central leadership has reiterated that the matter has been discussed and settled by the politburo. But Achuthanandan does not think so. He has not moved from his position, which he made clear in the controversial interview he gave to a Malayalam channel in January.
“Pinarayi Vijayan is not above board in the SNC Lavalin corruption case. I don’t think it is a fabricated case and targeted against any individual. The Balanandan Committee, which studied the matter in detail, had pointed out serious discrepancies and conveyed this to Prakash Karat. Even I told them that things were not going in the right direction. This will be known only after the completion of the CBI probe,’’ Achuthanandan had told the channel.
The veteran leader said that the CBI had not given a clean chit to Pinarayi. “He has been absolved of only one charge made by a witness. Why didn’t they (CBI) remove his name from the list of the accused? As a whole, he has not been exonerated in the case and is still an accused,’’ the Opposition Leader said.
In that interview, Achuthanandan had even brought the Central leadership under the cloud, saying that he was ousted from the politburo for taking a stand against Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin case.
Clearly the recent developments at the CBI court have given a shot in the arm for Achuthanandan ahead of the commission’s visit.
It is no secret that his open criticism of Pinarayi more than his position on the TPC murder case and open criticism of the leadership, led to the CPM State Committee passing a resolution, recommending Achuthanandan’s removal as Opposition Leader. The matter is now pending before the Central committee.
The allegation against Pinarayi is that as the then Power Minister he had not considered the Balanandan committee report and signed the supply contract with the Canadian company. So the big question that remains to be answered is: why was a consultancy contract converted into a supply contract?
The other allegation is that Pinarayi was so captivated by SNC Lavalin's offer to establish the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC) in his native district that he did not enter into a valid agreement with the company and allowed it to go back on its promise to provide a grant of Rs 86.25 crore to the Government for establishing the MCC.
But according to PB, the involvement of Pinarayi in the SNC Lavalin case is politically motivated. The decision to go ahead with the SNC Lavalin contract was taken by the E.K. Nayanar government after it was initiated by the previous UDF government.
Moreover, the proposal was discussed and cleared by the state secretariat and implemented by Pinarayi Vijayan, the then Power Minister.
Clearly the stakes are high for Pinarayi, the central leadrship and Achtuhandnan in the SNC Lavalin case. It is the last term for Pinarayi as party State Secretary and he is keen to come clean on the case ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/achu-pinarayijpg-391