Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has taken on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his recent utterances on the Mullaperiyar issue.
The Chief Minister had said in New Delhi that that an expert committee report on dam safety would be taken into consideration while dealing with the sensitive matter.
Safety questionAccording to his critics here, this went against the ‘well-articulated’ position of the State government that the safety of the existing dam is suspect and a new dam should form part of a solution.
Speaking to newspersons a day after he was elected the Opposition leader, Chennithala said that the Chief Minister’s views were diametrically opposite to the unanimous resolution passed by the State Assembly.
The Congress party has already come out vehemently against Vijayan’s views which represent a major shift in Kerala’s long-standing position in the matter.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Vijayan’s view was totally different from the consistent stand taken by successive governments in the State.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president VM Sudheeran wondered what made the Chief Minister to change the stand overnight.