The United Democratic Front (UDF) ramped up its attack on the State government on Thursday (June 5) by raising allegations of corruption and collusion in the construction of the National Highway and accusing it of blindly supporting the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala questioned the Chief Minister’s silence on highway construction irregularities during his meeting with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The Chief Minister and Public Works Minister have remained mum on the issue despite meeting with the Union Minister, he said. “Even CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan, who is known for speaking out, has stayed quiet,” said Mr. Chennithala.
“I am speaking about the corruption in a specific reach of NH in Kerala, where Adani reportedly made a profit of ₹867 crore. It is essential to investigate what happened in this case, and the other 22 stretches, too, should be studied,” he said.
The Congress leader warned Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas not to assume that the Opposition was celebrating the NH collapse. “The Minister did not do his job. So the Opposition had to point it out,” he said. “The primary concern is the safety of the people, and it is the duty of the Opposition to point out the corruption.”
Mr. Chennithala said that the Chief Minister and the PWD Minister were challenging the people of Kerala by failing to take up the vital issue of highway collapse with the Union Minister. He said the Pinarayi government was blindly supporting the BJP government at the Centre.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, who visited the collapsed highway at Kooriyad on Thursday, said that both the Central and State governments were responsible for the collapse of NH-66.
Citing errors in alignment and ignoring warnings from locals and people’s representatives, Mr. Joseph said that unscientific construction was the primary cause of the highway collapse.
He said that K.C. Venugopal, MP, as chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), had visited the site and sought explanations from officials and called for action. “But the Kerala government has defended the construction and criticised Mr. Venugopal for pointing out the flaws,” he said.
He lashed out at Mr. Riyas for not visiting the site and failing to take responsibility for the highway collapse.
Published – June 05, 2025 08:47 pm IST
