The UDF moved a motion of no confidence in the Assembly on Monday with the intention of grilling Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside the floor of the House, hoping that he would be dealt a major public embarrassment.
As it turned out, Vijayan was least bothered about their allegations and used the occasion to trumpet the deeds of his government and make a long political speech belittling the Congress, Muslim League and the BJP.
Vijayan shrewdly exploited the mass appeal of the no-confidence motion to make his 2021 election pitch. He was like a fighter who stood outside the ring regaling the audience while the UDF was like the opponent inside the ring who kept throwing punches in the air till he flopped tired to the ground.
Time difference
The opposition might have also felt tricked. The UDF members who talked beyond their allotted time were warned by both Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and parliamentary affairs minister A K Balan of the risk of COVID spread in a closed air-conditioned room. But no such fears were mildly, or even casually, mentioned to the Chief Minister.
He listed his achievements one by one, as though he was replying to a Budget debate or a discussion on the Governor's address, two instances when it is usual for a government to list out its triumphs in the Assembly.
Initially, it was expected that the Chief Minister would elaborate only the four missions - Haritha Keralam, AARDRAM, Education Rejuvenation and Life - and then would get on with the real business of defending himself.
He did not. After the missions, the Chief Minister went on to detail the achievements under various other departments like agriculture, finance and industry. The opposition were getting restless and the Chief Minister was evidently enjoying it.
At times he looked up from the paper he was reading and laughed at the unease he had provoked, as if telling his political rivals that they were the ones who had asked for it.
Dumb charade
He did respond to some charges levelled by the UDF members but did not say anything more than he had said before. The E-mobility deal with Swiss company HESS and the K T Jaleel issue were the only charges for which he gave slightly elaborate replies. But even these responses did not offer anything new.
However, when tougher questions were posed, he did not bother to reply. For instance, Congress MLA V D Satheesan asked why representatives of HESS were called to the meeting convened by the transport secretary to pick consultants for the E-Mobility project. The Chief Minister behaved as if he had not heard the charge.
The opposition charge was that a consultant to recommend the appropriate e-vehicle company was picked after HESS was already chosen. It was alleged that picking a consultant was just a ruse to grant the contract to HESS.
Opposition's fatigue
Quite uncharacteristically, Satheesan did not press the issue further. The Chief Minister seemed to have worn the opposition out with his seemingly never-ending reply. The opposition members seemed so weary that at one point opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala was heard telling the Chief Minister that he need not bother repeating his stand on the Thiruvananthapuram Airport issue.
It was as if he was too fatigued to grill the Chief Minister. "So you don't want me to talk about it," Vijayan said, a triumphant smile lighting up his face.
Sivasankar, Swapna and consultancies
To counter the 'consultancy raj' charge, Vijayan listed a number of foreign and desi consultancies employed by the former UDF government. He also reiterated that the government had picked only consultants that were empanelled by National Informatics Centre Services Inc. (NICSI).
But when asked why he did not go for the mandatory limited tenders to select NICSI consultants, he ignored the question.
The Chief Minister also trashed the charge that any of the central investigating agencies had linked the Chief Minister's office to gold smuggling. "All these agencies have filed affidavits before courts. There is no reference to the Chief Minister or the Chief Minister's Office in any of them," Vijayan said. "In fact, the NIA had even lauded the State government's stand in the court. We have assured all support to them," he added.
Besides the Chief Minister's seemingly unending reply, the other big surprise of the day was that M Sivasankar was left untouched by ruling party MLAs. Not once did the Chief Minister utter his former secretary's name.
