Communism compromised!

 

 

For once, they are truly Red… in the face, though! From politburo boss Prakash Karat down to the lowliest Kerala state unit member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), everyone is flushing, trying to defend one man whose name has become synonymous with corruption and political arrogance. He is the state party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. His acts of 1997 have come back as a ghoul in 2008-09 in the form of a Central Bureau of Investigation progress report to the Kerala High Court on Vijayan’s alleged illegal acts in granting a major power project to the Canadian company SNC Lavalin, which even backed out without keeping its promise and without there being any major difference in the state’s power generation. Vijayan had kept the agreement with SNC as a non-binding MoU!

Now the CBI is after him, waiting for the nod from state governor, RS Gavai, to prosecute the former power minister and ten of his cronies in the nearly Rs 380 crore scam. And despite repeated and serious warnings by Kerala Chief Minister VS Achutanandan, or simply VS, as he is commonly known, that the party was on a hara-kiri route projecting Vijayan as a ‘victim of political conspiracy’ by the previous government in the upcoming road show ahead of the general elections, the party mandarins at the red bastion in Delhi are doing just that. Prakash Karat, whose blue-eyed boy Vijayan is, and who helped the latter belittle the perfectly honest VS at every possible step, is the god father, raising serious questions in the minds of party followers in Kerala. The CBI’s charge is that Vijayan, who was power minister from May 1996 to October 1998, colluded with K Mohanachandran, former principal secretary (power) and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) chairman, and hatched a ‘criminal conspiracy’ to illegally award the contract to SNC. Vijayan led a high level delegation to Canada in October 1996 and held discussions with SNC Lavalin and the Canadian International Development Agency for upgrading Pallivasal, Chengulm and Panniyar hydro-electrical projects They decided to award the contract to SNC on a fixed-rate basis. The main consideration for the award of contract was a Rs 100 crore pari passu grant offered by SNC Lavalin to aid the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC).

The contract was signed by Lavalin and KSEB on February 10, 1997, even without government approval and ignoring the E Balanandan Committee report received a week ago, which had recommended only replacement of essential parts at a cost of Rs 100.5 crore.

Vijayan and his men, CBI says, with the intention of giving undue favours on SNC Lavalin, entered into a non-binding MoU on April 25, 1998, which kept SNC’s escape route open, thereby causing a huge loss to the exchequer. No government order had been issued authorising Mohanachandran, the first accused, to sign the MoU. But with the concurrence of the minister and A Francis, former joint secretary in the power department and now the tenth accused, the steps taken by a section officer to get a government order issued was reversed, saying that the minister’s approval was sufficient.

Contrary to the MoU, SNC Lavalin unauthorisedly and illegally appointed their own consultant, Technicalia Consultants Pvt Ltd., Chennai, with the active collusion of Mohanchandran and in full knowledge of Pinarayi Vijayan, who never objected to the appointment. Taking advantage of the non-binding MoU, after spending Rs 12 crore, SNC Lavalin backed out of its commitment on MCC. The CBI has also alleged that Pinarayi, Mohanachandran and Francis fraudulently suppressed certain relevant facts such as signing of supply contract on February 10, 1997, recommendation of KSEB secretary Viswamony for pari passu grant to MCC, with the implementation of the renovation project, report of NHPC and E. Balanandan Committee recommendation. Pinarayi had taken “extra undue interest” in the deal and even met and prevailed upon State Bank of India General Manager regarding a deferred payment guarantee (DPG).

He had also insisted that MCC be under his department, and thereby under his control. Pinarayi had contact with SNC Lavalin officials and “misused his official position” to exert pressure on KSEB staff and thereby favoured SNC Lavalin’s representative in their official dealing with the KSEB.

Investigation revealed that the supply contract was awarded to SNC Lavalin at an exorbitant rate, and the per-megawatt cost became the highest – Rs 3.96 crore! Though the award amount was Rs 243.98 crore the KSEB expended Rs 374.5 crore. And there was no increase in power generation even after the renovation, the CBI has said.

The CBI revelations have badly shaken the already faction-riddled party at the state level, but uncannily, the politburo at Delhi issued the official line that it was actually a witch-hunt kick-started by the previous Congress regime government. “If at all any conspiracy was hatched it was by the then UDF Chief Minister AK Antony and his Power Minister G Karthikeyan. They signed the MoU with Lavalin,’’ state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said. Though the politburo has toed the state party stand, the strong opposition by VS has put the central leadership in a fix.

Now the party will use the planned Vijayan-led Nava Kerala Yatra - all-Kerala road show - from February 2 to 26 to tom-tom the innocence of its state secretary. `”Steps taken by the CBI to prosecute Vijayan in the SNC-Lavalin case is politically motivated,” the party said in a statement after the state secretariat committee meet. But VS was conspicuously absent. Speaking at the Kerala Secretariat Employees, Vijayan warned that any move to confuse the people by initiating fake cases against communist leaders would not bear desired results.

But it seems from the grim scenario that the people are in no mood to toe Karat’s line and vote back the Reds in any substantial numbers.