As Kerala’s opposition party Congress stepped up pressure on the state government by launching a 'satyagraha' protest over the deep-sea fishing controversy, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday again dismissed the allegations raised by Congress. The CM stated that the two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed by state-owned corporations with the United States based EMCC International were not cancelled because the government has done nothing wrong. “It was cancelled so that there won't be any misunderstanding among the public," Pinarayi Vijayan said. He also accused Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, of trying to mislead the fishermen.
The government has already cancelled the MoUs -- a Rs 5,000 crore pact inked by Kerala State Industrial Corporation (KSIDC) and Rs 2,950 crore deal by the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) – with EMCC, as Congress was carrying on a campaign to 'mislead' fishermen, Vijayan told reporters.
Earlier in the day, Chennithala launched the day-long 'satyagraha' at Poonthura, demanding removal of Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma over the alleged deep sea fishing deals.
"The fisheries policy of the Left government is very clear in that we will not allow any corporates, be it Indian or foreign, to engage in deep sea fishing along the Kerala coast. All the allegations raised by the Opposition Leader are baseless. The MoU signed was not to encourage deep sea fishing," Vijayan said.
The controversial MoUs were signed by the KSINC and KSIDC with EMCC International at a State government-sponsored global investors meet, ASCEND, in Kochi last year. According to officials, the MoUs were for building modern fishing harbours which would be connected to a marine product processing centre in Alappuzha and 400 deep sea fishing trawlers.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also mounted a scathing attack on the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, stating that the party's neo-liberal policies in the 1990s was responsible for the crisis in the farm sector.
He sought to make light of Gandhi's tractor rally in his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in the state and his sea trip as part of outreach programme for fishermen, sarcastically saying they were grateful for his interest towards Kerala.
"The hands of the Congress are soaked in the blood of lakhs of farmers. Many families were orphaned due to the Congress governments' anti-farmer policies. Rahul Gandhi should tender unconditional apology for the wrongdoings of the Congress governments," he said.
Responding to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's allegation that the LDF government was a symbol of corruption, Pinarayi Vijayan claimed a national-level survey conducted in 2019 had revealed that Kerala "has the lowest" incidence of graft.
"It was BJP MLA Shyam Prasad who had said UP ranked top in the corruption list in the country. He made such remarks in July last year. Besides, Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Shrikant Sharma said last month that he has found cases of gross corruption in his department," Pinarayi said.
"The highly educated youths of Kerala are going to various parts of the world as they are competent enough. Fifteen percent of Kerala's guest workers are from Uttar Pradesh," Vijayan said. He sought to know from UP CM Yogi Adityanath why they left their state and reached Kerala in search of jobs.
Vijayan also added that not a single communal clash was reported in his state in the last five years whereas the situation in Uttar Pradesh was different.