New Indian Express: Thiruvanatpuram: Friday, February 17,
2017.
The two
Communist parties in Kerala’s Left Government are once again engaged in an open
confrontation over the Right to Information Act. The fight between the CPM and
the CPI reached a tipping point on Thursday with Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan openly criticising attempts to create a smokescreen over the issue.
In what could
be termed a reply to CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran, who had criticised
the government’s reluctance to release Cabinet information under RTI Act,
Pinarayi asked for whom such a smokescreen was created. In an apparent dig at
the CPI, Pinarayi said his refusal to retort does not imply he does not know
how to.
Alleging
vested interests were behind those creating controversies, Pinarayi said: “I
chose not to retort to avoid unnecessary controversies. It doesn’t imply I have
lost the ability to do so. Those who criticise better realise this.”
Reacting to
the constant criticisms from the CPI, Pinarayi said the campaign which said the
government is against the RTI Act is not true. There’s an attempt to create
such an impression. Kerala is the only state to post-Cabinet decisions on the
website. Still, some people are creating a smokescreen. It’s not clear for whom
such an attempt is being made, he said.
The Pinarayi
jibe aimed at Kanam comes at a time when the CPI has been openly supporting
demands to provide Cabinet decisions under the RTI Act. Though the Left
Government had earlier supported the move, the Chief Minister later made it
clear all information cannot be provided under the Act.
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