KOZHIKODE: The UDF-CPM rivalry has jeopardized the conduct of the State Youth Festival as the organizers are yet to finalise the main venue.
The CPM-ruled Kozhikode Corporation has strongly objected to the Government move to make Mananchira Square the main venue and has suggested Swapnanagari as an alternative.
However, the Government is not willing to shift the main venue as Swapnanagari falls within the constituency of CPM MLA A. Pradeep Kumar.
As per precedence, the MLA of the constituency is automatically made the chairman of the organizing committee and the UDF does not want to give this to its rival.
With politics taking centrestage, arrangements for the mammoth fest have taken a backseat. Parents say that such petty politics should not affect the successful conduct of the fest.
“We are not interested in knowing who is being made the chairman of the organizing committee or which place is being finalized as the main venue.
What we are only looking forward to is a successful festival with fair results. Politicians should not stoop to these levels,” said Sajeesh Kumar, a parent from Kozhikode.
Education Minister Abdu Rabb, who had kicked off the controversy, however, has washed his hands of the decision now. “I have left it to the organizing committee to decide the main venue.
I need not be taken into confidence when they decide the venue as it’s they who are going to conduct the festival,” he said.
Cultural activists and the public have come out in the open against the Government’s move to make Mananchira the main venue of the festival.
They said the conduct of such a huge festival in Mananchira could spoil its lawns. The Corporation had to spent about Rs 60 lakh to lay back the damaged lawns when the State Youth Festival was held here last.
Minister M.K.Muneer said the decision regarding the main venue would be taken at a meeting to be held in Kozhikode on November 29.
“We have not taken any decision yet and we will meet on November 29 at the BEM High School. All other reports are baseless,” he said.
A.Pradeep Kumar, MLA, said the controversy was uncalled for. He said he never aspired to become chairman of the organizing committee.
