V S Achuthanandan criticises state tourism awards

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI-M veteran and former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Tuesday criticised the state Tourism Department for awarding two resorts which have been built in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone guidelines.

"I found out that two resorts in the State Tourism Awards list of winners have been built in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone guidelines. I have complained against the violation of these two resorts and the probe is on," said Achuthanandan.

He added that giving awards to such law-breakers does not augur well and wished that such mistakes do not happen again.

In May, the 93-year-old was given the ceremonial title of 'Kerala's Fidel Castro' by his party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, the day Pinarayi Vijayan became Chief Minister after the Achuthanandan-led Left Democratic Front won in the assembly polls against the Oommen Chandy-led United Democratic Front.

Achuthanandan and Vijayan have been at logger heads for more than a decade and their rivalry intensified when the then State Party Secretary Vijayan was accused in the SNC Lavalin case.

Vijayan, who was State Electricity Minister in 1996-97, was under the CBI scanner for having sanctioned repairs and maintenance charges to the Canadian construction company Lavalin that cost the state exchequer Rs 266 crore.

During that period, the two openly took on each other, which led to both being booted out of the politburo.

But after some time, while Vijayan was reinstated, Achuthanandan remains only an invitee to the Central Committee.