Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has created an unwanted controversy to hide the gold smuggling and drug case involving Bineesh Kodiyeri.

Now it has been proved that the finance minister will stoop to such low standards with malicious intent. The Congress leader was responding to the criticisms levelled by the Finance Minister

Huge corruption occurred in the TransGrid project. The project which was estimated to cost Rs 2,500 crore was completed for Rs 4,500 crores. This was KIIFB’s money but the government is yet to give a clear response in this regard, Chennithala said.

The cancer centre building in Kochi was a project worth Rs 850 crore. But halfway through, the building sank and collapsed, he added.

The CAG report on KIIFB has not come out and it has not been presented in the Assembly. Instead Thomas Isaac spoke about it to the public. The Finance Minister has no right to do that. In truth, he has insulted the Assembly, he said.

There were allegations that masala bonds in KIIFB were not constitutionally valid. Loans from abroad were obtained by clearly violating article 293 (1) of the constitution. The masala bonds were bought by CDPQ, a Canadian funding agency which leads SNC Lavalin. The Finance Minister must clarify the links between Lavalin and masala bonds, demanded Chennitha.

  ramesh chennithala, thomas issic