Thiruvananthapuram: The proposed visit of all party delegation to London on November 19 for taking part in Common Parliamentary Affairs programme has been put off after LDF MLAs pulled out in protest against Government decision to appoint Excise Minister K Babu as the head of the delegation.
The all party delegation was to leave for London on November 19. CPI legislature party leader C Divakaran and K T Jaleel were the opposition representatives in the delegation. Divakaran alleged that the government had unilaterally appointed Babu as delegation head after Parliamentary Affairs Minister K C Joseph expressed his inconvenience to head the the all party team because of personal reasons.
The CPI leader said that the government had not even shown the courtesy of discussing the matter with the opposition before changing delegation leader. “In the present circumstances we cannot be part of a delegation headed by Babu for any event,” Divakaran said while referring to the serious allegations faced by the excise minister in connection with the bar bribe case.
With the LDF planning to launch an agitation to seek Babu’s resignation in the wake of charges levelled by Bar Hotel Owners Association working president Biju Ramesh, it is felt in opposition circles that becoming part of a delegation headed by a tainted minister would send wrong signal to the people of the state.
The UDF had picked K Sivadasan Nair, Dominic Presentation, Mons Joseph and Joseph Vazhakkan for the meet which is an annual affair. LDF leaders said that by pulling out of the delegation they did not mean to belittle the international event. But in the current situation there was no question of becoming part of a team led by Babu.
The decision to pull out of the international meet also indicated the LDF plan to intensify its agitation against the excise minister in the coming days.
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