LDF govt failing on all fronts: Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 18 (UNI) The Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, in the first six months of its rule, has failed to keep up its promises to the people and is slipping from one failure to another, Opposition Leader in the Kerala Assembly Oommen Chandy alleged today.

''The Ministers have failed in their duties and also the present government would not have slipped into failures if it had implemented some of the programmes started by the previous United Democratic Front government,'' he told a news conference here.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF government completed six months in office today.

Deliberating on the LDF government's six-month rule, he alleged that suicide by debt-ridden farmers and custodial deaths continued.

After the Achutanandan government came to power, 49 farmers had committed suicide and about 17 custodial deaths reported, he alleged and added the government was forced to announce a judicial inquiry into the custodial deaths after three months in office.

The leader said the government's wrong policies had also led to the suicide of farmers in the state.

Pointing out that the LDF had promised to take strong action against atrocities against women, he also alleged that the Left government had failed to arrest crimes against women in the state.

Lambasting the government on the Self-Financing College issue, he said though the Self Financing College Bill was passed in the Assembly, the government had failed to implement it even in the government-run colleges. Alleging that it had not benefitted the students, he said only the neighbouring states were the only beneficiaries.

Regarding law and order, Mr Chandy said the sate in the recent times had seen many incidents which had raised questions on the situation in the state.

On the security lapse during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the state, he said the government had not taken action against the officials who were responsible for the lapse but had only made two officials, who were not in the good books of the Left, scapegoats.

Claiming that many of the projects put forward by the previous UDF government were scrapped, he said the LDF government was not pursuing the farmer's pension scheme and the pension for Diary farmers, only because they were introduced by the UDF. ''The LDF government is not trying to help the farmers but only harming them,'' he charged.

Asked if the six-month rule of the LDF would be judged in the Thiruvambady by-elections, he said it would surely be a litmus test for LDF. ''It is time for the people to judge the performance of this government,'' he said.

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