If the LDF had won quite handsomely for a historic return to power, the role of LIFE Mission in securing for the LDF the votes of the weaker sections cannot be disputed.
Nonetheless, on Wednesday, there was a dispute in the Assembly about the number of houses constructed under Oommen Chandy and Pinarayi Vijayan. It was local self government minister M V Govindan's remarks that sparked the debate.
Citing official records, Govindan said that 2,62,409 houses were constructed under the LIFE Mission project during the term of the last Pinarayi Vijayan ministry.
In comparison, the minister said the houses constructed during the tenure of the UDF ministry under Oommen Chandy (2011-12 to 2015-16) was just 3,724. Govindan said the figure was stated inside the Assembly by the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy himself.
There were shouts of disapproval from the Opposition but Govindan continued unfazed. He said the current LDF government would better it's record and construct five lakh houses in the next five years, one lakh houses each every year of their period.
When it was his turn to speak, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan produced another official document, this one furnished by Govindan's predecessor K T Jaleel, that revealed a completely different picture.
In this Assembly document, the previous minister for local bodies said that in the five years of Oommen Chandy, 4.34 lakh houses were constructed for the poor, almost double the number managed under Pinarayi. Satheesan then directly addressed Govindan: "You should pull up your officials and personal staff and ask them why they supplied you with wrong information".
Further, Satheesan argued that the last LDF government had not constructed even two lakh houses. "The construction of 52,635 houses they had included in their list had actually begun during the UDF tenure. It just so happened that the work got completed after the LDF came to power," he said.
But Satheesan said the LDF was smart. "You made a big song and dance about the LIFE Mission while Oommen Chandy remained silent," he said.
When the four lakh figure was repeated by the Opposition Leader in the House, a miffed Govindan stood up and put forward a new argument. "He is trying to make a mountain out of a printing mistake in the Economic Survey of the Planning Board. The figure he is quoting is a mere printing error," Govindan said.
Satheesan said he pulled out the figure not from a Planning Board document but from a reply given in the Assembly by a minister of the last LDF government. "If I cannot quote from an Assembly document, what else can I do with greater authenticity," he said.
The UDF's big charge was that the second Pinarayi Vijayan ministry was botching up the LIFE Mission project. Muslim League MLA P K Basheer who moved an adjournment motion on the issue and the Opposition Leader said that the government had badly delayed the finalization of the beneficiary list.
The final list should have been published by September 20 last year. The minister said it would be ready by February, 2022. Satheesan said this constituted a delay of 17 months. The minister blamed the two elections - local body and Assembly - for the delay.
"Last time, you could not even construct two lakh houses. With such a delay how are you hoping to complete five lakh houses," Satheesan asked.
