Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], July 29 : Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Wednesday confirmed receiving a formal communication from Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Pinarayi Vijayan requesting the withdrawal of police cases registered in the state against those who expressed solidarity with the student protests at Jantar Mantar.
Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister stated that the request is currently being processed.
"The Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan had sent a letter to the Chief Minister requesting the withdrawal of all cases registered in Kerala in connection with expressing solidarity with the students' protest at Jantar Mantar. It has been forwarded to the Home Minister. They will take action accordingly," CM Satheesan said.
Beyond the matter of the police cases, the Chief Minister also launched a sharp attack on the LoP, accusing him of spreading misinformation regarding the state government's legal standing on the Waqf Board in the High Court.
"The Leader of Opposition is spreading the claim that the government told the High Court that it was for appointing non-Muslim members to the Waqf Board. However, what the government told the High Court was that the case that has come up now should be dismissed. However, the Waqf Board established when Pinarayi Vijayan was the Chief Minister directly went to the Supreme Court," CM Satheesan said.
Further intensifying his attack, the Chief Minister alleged that the Waqf Board under the previous LDF government had expressed a willingness to include non-Muslim members during Supreme Court proceedings.
"The Waqf Board appointed by the LDF government told the Supreme Court that, by including two more non-Muslim members, they would reconstitute the Board. Even after the expiry of its term, the Waqf Board was not reconstituted. It was only after the new amendment came into force that the LDF government reconstituted the Waqf Board. That is the reason for all the problems," the CM added.
CM Satheesan also confirmed receiving a communication from LoP Pinarayi Vijayan regarding the withdrawal of police cases related to student solidarity protests.
"The Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan had sent a letter to the Chief Minister requesting the withdrawal of all cases registered in Keralam in connection with expressing solidarity with the students' protest at Jantar Mantar. It has been forwarded to the Home Minister. They will take action accordingly," the Chief Minister stated.
Announcing significant Cabinet decisions, the Chief Minister detailed a five-point plan to modernise governance and prevent financial losses due to project delays.
"The Cabinet has taken an important decision. As part of administrative reforms, delays in implementing projects have been causing the state exchequer to lose crores of rupees for several years. Therefore, under the leadership of the General Administration Department, five key decisions have been taken to create a digital infrastructure for governance. The decisions are: 1. Special Asset Management Platform for Administration, Tracking and Harmonisation Portal, 2. PlanSpace 2.0, 3. a comprehensive registry of government institutions, 4. a review and amendment of obsolete, unnecessary, and contradictory laws, and 5. a process to improve ease of living and ease of doing business," CM Satheesan explained.
On the controversial issue of the Labour Code, the Chief Minister said he would hold discussions with trade unions, stressing the necessity of the law.
"It is easy to say that the Labour Code will not be implemented. But other states have implemented it. If it is not implemented, there will be no labour law at all. The opposition is to certain provisions in the Labour Code. Those will be discussed," he said.
Addressing the suspension of ADGP MR Ajith Kumar, the Chief Minister defended the government's timeline, dismissing allegations of "protecting" the official.
"With regard to the case against ADGP MR Ajith Kumar, the government moved forward after understanding the facts, without any haste. Based on the first report, the officials were suspended. On the basis of the second report, after completing the procedures, the ADGP was suspended. Some media outlets reported that the government was protecting MR Ajith Kumar. However, action was taken within two months," the CM clarified.
The Chief Minister also hit back at the media regarding allegations of making "anti-woman" remarks in a recent speech.
"Everyone reported that I had made an anti-women remark in my speech. But did you report the news after watching the visuals of the speech? What anti-woman remark did I make? The media should not go to such a low level. There are many other issues on which I can be criticised. Some people are following me with a microscopic lens," he added.