KOCHI: The Congress-led United Democratic Front Government, which presented a 100-day action plan promising transparent, pro-poor and pro-development policies, is dogged by vigilance cases and many challenges when completing its 100 days in office. The team led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, which assumed office on May 18, is finding it hard to overcome the many challenges that it had to face in the first three months in office. Soon after the new government was sworn in, it had a setback in the state Assembly during the voting on the Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill. The Government just scraped through the voting on the Bill with the barest of majority. The Opposition had accused the UDF of deliberately delaying division on Vote on Account to muster enough strength. Within days of assuming office, the UDF was caught in a political turmoil with the court asking the Vigilance Department to inquire into the role of Oommen Chandy in the palmolein import scam of 1992, which made the Chief Minister to give up the Vigilance portfolio. The Opposition Left Democratic Front has given a clarion call for mass agitations across the state demanding the Chief Minister’s resignation. The Indian Union Muslim League, a coalition partner of the UDF, is on the defensive with the latest disclosure by K A Rauf, the estranged co-brother of Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty, that the minister’s grudge against retired judge M A Nizar led to the disbanding of the inquiry commission, which was probing the Kasargod police firing incident. The UDF was also in a precarious situation after Health Minister Adoor Prakash was dragged into a controversy over the admission secured by his daughter to a post-graduate course in the management quota in the Pariyaram Medical College. Moreover, the Kozhikode vigilance court will be hearing a case against Adoor Prakash, who is accused of demanding money from his own party colleagues to sanction ration shops when he was Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the former oommen Chandy Government. Another blow to the UDF Government is the direction of the Vigilance court to reinvestigate the case against Panchayats and Social Welfare Minister M K Muneer and seven others in the awarding of two road contracts in Malappuram district in alleged violation of tender norms. Though facing many challenges, the government that assumed office with the slogan ‘Development and Care’, in its three months can boast of delivering some of the promises it has made. The Chengara and Endosulfan packages, decision to distribute rice at ` 1 per kg for the BPL families and speeding up of the Kochi metro, Vizhinjam and Smart City projects are some of programmes that the UDF can take pride of.
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