CPI(M) accuses Satheesan of concentrating authority in a ‘shadowy power group’ centred around the CMO

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Tuesday accused Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan of concentrating decision-making authority in an “opaque power group” centred around the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told a press conference that Mr. Satheesan had significantly undermined the constitutional principle of the Council of Ministers’ collective responsibility by concentrating power in a “shadowy coterie representing questionable private interests”.

Mr. Govindan alleged that Mr. Satheesan’s “autocratic style of functioning” had whittled down the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s accountability to the legislature on policy and key decisions, including power purchase agreements with “profit-motivated and predatory” private sector entities.

Mr Govindan said the Power Minister and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Sunny Joseph, had publicly expressed outrage at being blindsided by Mr Satheesan’s decision to purchase power from GNA Energy, a private entity, at above-market rates. “Mr. Joseph said rather disquietingly that he had learned of the now-cancelled deal through newspapers,” Mr. Govindan said.

Mr. Govindan said the “power group” had tried to justify the “corrupt deal” by citing a “non-existent power crisis” and raising the spectre of rolling power cuts. The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission said there was no power crisis in Keralam, forcing the “power group” to retract from the deal, which, Mr Govindan said, would have set back the public exchequer by a whopping ₹777 crore.

Mr. Govindan said Excise Minister M. Liju had admitted that his department had granted multiple bar licences, including for the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), without his knowledge or consent.

Mr. Govindan alleged that Health and Devaswom Board Minister K. Muraleedharan had also expressed his pique at Mr. Satheesan’s “arbitrary” style of functioning, including in key appointments. Notably, Mr. Govindan said the United Democratic Front (UDF) convener, Adoor Prakash, MP, had inadvertently testified to the existence of the “opaque power group at the CMO” by stating that Mr. Satheesan, the chairperson of the UDF, rarely consulted the ruling alliance before making key decisions or policy announcements.