Thiruvananthapuram: Former Electricity Minister and Udumbanchola legislator MM Mani made a scathing attack on Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) chairman B Ashok in the State Assembly on Friday for the latter's recent Facebook post criticising the hydel tourism project deals entered into by the previous Pinarayi Vijayan Government.
While speaking at the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's Speech, Mani said that there was no point in withdrawing the Facebook post after it caused all the damage.
"People should value the chair which they occupy. Otherwise, others will sit in the chair. It is understood that the chairman had done it without the knowledge of the minister. It would have been worse if the minister had known about it earlier. I ruled the electricity ministry for four-and-a-half years by winning the confidence of the employees. The Opposition parties raised some allegations based on the Facebook post. If I say something more about the withdrawal of the Facebook post by the chairman, I may even utter some bad words," he said.
An indefinite strike waged by the Left trade unions outside the KSEB headquarters last week was withdrawn on Saturday after conciliatory talks. As part of the consensus, Ashok withdrew his social media post which offended the Left unions.
On hydel tourism projects
Referring to one of Ashok's charges, Mani also pointed out that even individuals were assigned with land for running hydel tourism projects by the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government. But the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) ministry decided that instead of individuals, cooperative societies be given land for running such projects. The land was assigned to the cooperative societies run by the Congress too.
He said that it was a baseless campaign that land was given without norms to the cooperative society led by his son-in-law.
"When various procedures for the land exchange were progressing, my son-in-law was not at the helm of the society. Later on, he became the office-bearer. The Opposition had made a demeaning statement against me in this connection," Mani added.
The KSEB chairman had claimed that KSEB land was given to cooperative societies for running tourism projects without the concurrence of the State Government and the Board. He also flagged the transfer of 21 acres of KSEB land to the Rajakkad Service Cooperative Bank, which is led by Man's son-in-law VA Kunjumon, for running a hydel tourism project.
Mani had earlier told the media that the decision to hand over the land to the Rajakkad Cooperative Bank was taken by the KSEB after proper legal formalities.
Presently, the Ponmudi Hydel Tourism Centre functions on this land. The 21-acre land was leased by the KSEB to the Rajakkad Bank for implementing the tourism project in 2019, when Mani was the electricity minister.
