Cong in Kerala reiterates demand for CM's stand in AI camera issue
- May 03, 2023
- Updated: 11:30 pm
Thiruvananthapuram, May 3 : The Kerala unit of Congress on Wednesday reiterated its demand that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan break his silence on the alleged AI camera scam.
All the top Congress leaders are out in public slamming the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleging corruption in the 232 crore project for installation of AI cameras for the Motor Vehicles department.
The issue was first raised by Congress MLA and former Leader of Opposition (LoP)Ramesh Chennithala. Soon, he was joined by current LoP V.D.Satheesan and state Congress president and Lok Sabha member K.Sudhakaran.
On Wednesday, all the three denounced Chief Minister Vijayan from different places in the state.
"Now that the names of the accused who happen to be close relatives of Vijayan are out, we give one last chance to Vijayan to break his silence and come clear on the allegations," said Satheesan.
Chennithala demanded that the deal handed over to companies which have no previous expertise in this area be cancelled. Besides, a judicial probe be ordered as in the Rs 232 crore purchase deal, Rs 100 crore have gone into the hands of middlemen which Vijayan is aware of.
It's least surprising that in every deal, a group close to Vijayan pockets everything and like for Modi- Adani is the last word, for Vijayan it's the Uralungal Cooperative Society, which supports companies, Sudhakaran said.
"Nothing in Kerala happens without the knowledge of Vijayan or his office or those close. Things have reached a point of no return for the chief minister," said Sudhakaran. The fact that no one is coming out to defend Vijayan reflects the state of affairs.
Notably, state BJP leader Sobha Surendran on Tuesday named the beneficiaries in the deals as Prakash Babu, the father-in-law of Vijayan's son Vivek, who has close ties with a company called Presadio Technologies based out of Kozhikode.
On Wednesday, angry youth workers of the Indian Union Muslim League staged a protest before the office of Presadio Technologies at Kozhikode, the now controversial company that Prakash Babu has links with and has won a few contracts, including the AI camera deal.
The Congress-led UDF has now announced that on May 20, the day the Vijayan government celebrates its second anniversary of it coming to power for a second straight term, will stage demonstrations all across the state against "the most corrupt state government" the state has ever had.
/IANS