Thiruvananthapuram: Painting a grim picture
of the unemployment situation in Kerala, Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Sunday had a dig at CPI-M, saying joining this party
was one of the three choices for the unemployed youth in the
state to get a job.
Gandhi also slammed the CPI-(M)-led LDF government
alleging it was not a functioning one and therefore "land,
liquor and lottery" syndicate ruled the state.
Gandhi's comments came a day after taking a swipe at
87-and-a-half-year-old Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan when
he said that if the LDF wins the coming Assembly polls they
will have a 93-year-old chief minister by the next elections.
Commenting on the unemployment situation in the state,
he said more than 4.3 million youths were jobless and observed
there were only three ways for youths in Kerala to get jobs,
he said.
Either they had to go outside the state or Middle East
or join the CPI-M party, Gandhi said while addressing a
Congress-led UDF election convention here on the eve of the
last day of campaigning for the April 13 Assembly elections.
Continuing his tirade against the LDF government in
Kerala, Gandhi said the five-year LDF rule had destroyed the
environment for industrialisation in the state.
Kerala never finds a place in the list of states
preferred by industralists to invest, Gandhi said.
Gandhi said corruption has become a big problem in the
country and UPA government passed the Right to Information Act
with an objective to bring out transparency in governance.
"We have acknowledged this problem and the RTI act was
brought to tackle corruption and bring transparency in
administration," he said.
RTI enabled people to know what was happening in
government, he said, adding, "we are not going to stop at
that. We will bring a law that will also provide
accountability."
Congress took action whenever corruption was reported in
government run by congress, but that was not the case in
Kerala led by CPI-M headed LDF, Gandhi said.
The party would continue to take stern action against
corruption, that steals the money of poor people, he said.
Gandhi said Kerala needed a government that works in
partnership with UPA at the Centre for speedy development of
the state. He alleged that LDF government failed to make
use of the funds released by UPA in the past five years.
If UDF comes to power, it would bring out an investment
friendly climate in the state that would speed up
industrialisation which would generate job opportunities, he
said.
Opposition leader Oommen Chandy and Shashi Tharoor, MP,
also spoke.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, April 10, 2011, 20:38