Vijayan’s rat trap

Jeemon Jacob Thiruvananthapuram

Pinarayi Vijayan, the Secretary of CPM’s Kerala unit, is a no nonsense politician. He seldom smiles. His body language speaks volumes about his personality. Unlike his arch rival in the party, Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan, who is allergic to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) loans, Pinarayi, 63, seems to understand the dynamics of globalisation better. His admirers say that “he thinks globally and acts locally”.

His rise in politics has been predictable. Pinarayi , born in a poor family, entered student politics and gradually rose in the party hierarchy. He was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970 when he was 26. The firebrand leader has always been in the forefront of struggles.

When he became power minister for two years in the EK Nayanar government in Kerala during 1996-1998, he was rated as one of the best in the Left Front cabinet. Later, he resigned when he became the party state secretary. However, those two years as a minister is haunting him now. Witness the SNC-Lavalin power projects case which has become a kind of double-door rat trap, even for a leader as dynamic as Vijayan.

Indeed, Achuthanandan and his loyalists are trying to use the case to corner him politically. They have crowned Vijayan with the unique distinction of being the first CPM politburo member to be investigated by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the Lavlin deal as power minister in 1998. The Kerala High Court bench of Chief Justice VK Bali and JB Koshy issued the directive while dismissing a petition filed by the state government seeking to withdraw the previous government's decision to entrust the investigation to the CBI.

The case related to alleged irregularities in the award of contract for the modernisation of Pallivasal (37.5 mw), Sengulam (48 mw) and Panniyar (30 mw) hydroelectric projects to the Canada-based company SNC Lavalin. These power stations were installed between 1940 and 1964. The Kerala State Electricity Board had decided to renovate them on the ground that the generators had outlived their life.

In fact, at one time, the former Congress-led UDF government had favoured a CBI probe into the controversial issue but the current Left Front government argued that a probe by the state’ vigilance and anti-corruption bureau would be enough. The Left Front government contended that when the UDF government took the decision on March 1, 2006, to entrust the investigation to the CBI, there was no serious application of mind and no material before the cabinet to take a proper decision.

However, the court observed that the mere fact that there was no note or agenda when the cabinet took the decision was not enough to conclude that the government had not applied its mind. There was enough material to justify a CBI investigation. Plus, the possible involvement of powerful individuals in the deal can’t be ruled out.

The judges observed that the government had suffered a huge loss of Rs 3,740.5 million and the Malabar Cancer Centre was a non-starter. Indeed, the company had offered aid to set up the centre. The vigilance department had registered an FIR after three years of investigation and, in the ultimate analysis, found only the board officials as culprits.

The SNC-Lavalin issue came into focus after the Comptroller and Auditor General in its 2005 report noted that Rs 3740.50 million incurred for the renovation and modernisation of Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniar hydel projects did not commensurate with the promised gains. The report noted that SNC-Lavalin, which took up the work, did not keep the promise of providing a grant of Rs 890.32 million to the Malabar Cancer Centre as part of the renovation contract.

The court verdict has pushed Vijayan’s political future into an uncertain corner. But it has also revealed how high ranking comrades in the Kerala unit of the CPM are settling old and bitter scores with each other by hook or crook. And predictably, its good time for the media as spicy stories are doing rounds everyday.

The latest ‘scoop’ is that the chief minister has written a letter to President Abdul Kalam recommending Chief Justice VK Bali for a slot in the Supreme Court. Was this to say thank you for the court verdict against Vijayan? Within the party, this is being cited as a violation of all norms of protocol. The chief minister has neither confirmed nor denied the report. However, there is no doubt, as the war hots up in the CPM, the tycoons of the Canadian company might be having the last laugh.