Kerala not done enough to draw private investment: Chidambaram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The tit for tat between the Left-ruled Kerala and the central government ahead of the forthcoming assembly polls continued with union Home Minister P. Chidambaram Saturday lashing out at the state government.

Speaking at the Kerala Development Congress (KDC) venue here, Chidambaram attacked the state’s Left Democratic Front government, saying: “All the development projects that have been unveiled here in the past few years have come from the investment of the centre and this shows the commitment that the government of India has towards Kerala.”

“Private investments here have not come in the manner that should have happened, and if it does then only can the state go ahead,” he added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too Friday launched an attack on the LDF, saying it was not using various central government schemes for the benefit of the people.

And for the second day in succession, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at the inauguration of the new terminal of the international airport here expressed his displeasure to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the state’s neglect.

If on Friday, during his speech at the inauguration of the International Container Transshipment Terminal at Kochi Achuthanandan asked the prime minister to intervene to give the green signal for the much delayed Kochi Metro and the Palakkad coach factory, his cabinet colleagues accused the centre of playing petty politics by not inviting a single state minister to the dais at the function.

In his speech in the presence of the prime minister Saturday, the chief minister said the state has been neglected once again.

“This neglect does not mean anything because the important thing is that this terminal has become a reality. For this terminal to become a reality, the state government has taken great pains,” said Achuthanandan.

If Friday there were no state ministers on the dais, on Saturday two state ministers were seated beside Manmohan Singh, while a few ministers got seats only among the audience.

Like at the container terminal, at the airport terminal, too, the name of Achuthanandan was missing from the plaque that was unveiled by Manmohan Singh.

–Indo Asian News Service