On Monday, the ruling front faced flak from the Opposition on two separate fronts.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) of forcing the closure of a hardware store at Mathamangalam in Kannur by staging an “unlawful, intimidatory and protracted” picketing in front of the outlet.
The death of a youth in a country bomb blast at a marriage ceremony in Kannur also prompted the Opposition parties to accuse the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of promoting criminal gangs that fabricated lethal explosives and stockpiled sharp-edged weapons in party safehouses forbidden to the local law enforcement.
The labour dispute involving the CITU drew considerable public attention. It appeared not to augur well for the investment-friendly image projected enthusiastically by the Left Democratic Front government. It also did not, arguably, help the ruling front that the store owner was a Gulf returnee who had sunk his savings in the business venture in his home district.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan highlighted the "predicament" of the investor in an open letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Militant trade unionism and wildcat labour strikes had rendered Kerala a graveyard for investors.
Mathamangalam was not a one-off incident as claimed by Labour Minister V. Sivankutty. Trade union belligerence had driven scores of hapless investors to shut shop or commit suicide. Mr. Satheesan contested Mr. Sivankutty's "face-saving" claim that the hardware store lacked a panchayat licence.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran said the government had restored the widely loathed CPI(M) cell rule in Kerala. The party had given the go by to professionalism and ethics and posted compliant officers in crucial law and order positions. Bomb-making was a cottage industry in Kannur.
BJP State president K. Surendran said the CPI(M)'s bid to illegally wrest contribution from investors had caused businesses to decamp to neighbouring States. The party and CITU goons were out to thwart Mr. Vijayan's frantic attempts to invite investors to Kerala. The CITU had turned back buyers from the hardware store. It had demanded a political levy from the store owner.
Industries Minister P.Rajeeve said the Opposition seemed to exaggerate the Mathamangalam incident to undermine the State's robust investment climate.
