The stand-off between Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan continued to dominate Facebook on Friday with each accusing the other of dodging uncomfortable questions.
Mr. Chandy, in his FB post, wanted Mr. Achuthanandan to name the 12 court cases referred to in his affidavit in the defamation case before the Thiruvananthapuram District Judge. Mr. Achuthanandan, referring to the court observations, maintained that Mr. Chandy had got what he deserved since he had tried to scoot the electoral fight.
While Mr. Chandy gave the impression that Mr. Achuthanandan’s hard-hitting statements continued to rankle him, the Opposition leader made it plain that he would not retract from his current style of electioneering.
Mr. Chandy said Mr. Achuthanandan had made the baseless charges against him and his Cabinet colleagues on the basis of an RTI document from the Lok Ayukta. But the Lok Ayukta later made it clear that there were no cases against him, Mr. Chandy said.
He said the Mr. Achuthanandan had preferred to keep mum when he listed out the number of LDF candidates who were accused of murder, cheating, or suicide abetment. Mr. Achuthanandan had earlier alleged that there were 31 cases against him (the Chief Minister), but this number was brought down to 12, Mr. Chandy said.
He wanted Mr. Achuthanandan to clarify which were the 12 cases. He said he had filed his nomination papers on Friday and it was clear from the documents filed before the EC that there were no cases pending at that time. “You should give up your silence at least to clear the air by submitting the details of the 12 cases,” Mr. Chandy said.
