Congress to stage blockade at Kozhikode Corporation office

The District Congress Committee (DCC) has launched a campaign against the alleged corruption and nepotism in the Kozhikode Corporation.

DCC president K. Praveen Kumar told the media on Tuesday (May 13) that the Congress would stage a blockade of the Corporation office on May 27, and that a protest declaration convention would be held at the Kozhikode Town Hall at 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday (May 14).

“The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has been ruling the Kozhikode Corporation for four-and-a-half decades. Over this period, the Corporation has become synonymous with corruption and nepotism. We are on a mission to liberate Kozhikode from the clutches of corrupt leaders,” Mr. Praveen Kumar said. The blockade would mark the first step in the campaign against the Corporation, under the slogan ‘Commission Corporation, Save Kozhikode’.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary P.M. Niyas said that the party had demanded an itemised account of the renovation of the Corporation building, the cost of which escalated from ₹9.5 crore to ₹19.5 crore by the time it was completed. It also demanded a complete list of unauthorised buildings in the city. The party further said that the Corporation should make public the name of the company that sets up advertisement boards in the city and the amount levied for the work.

Kozhikode has better advertising rates than Thrissur, Kannur, or Kollam. But this company, which is a ‘benami’ of a senior CPI(M) leader, is getting the contracts cheap, and thus the money that should have been the Corporation’s is being looted,” Mr. Niyas said.

The Congress also demanded that the Corporation cancel the plan to relocate the vegetable market at Palayam, as it is allegedly part of an underhanded real estate deal to sell off the prized land of the market. It also demanded details of the contract with Zonta Infratech for biomining and capping at Njeliyanparamba, and particulars of the activities undertaken there that earned the company ₹3 crore in compensation.

KPCC general secretary K. Jayanth and Opposition leader in the Corporation K.C. Shobhita were present.