Chandrasekhar misleading coastal people, says Tharoor

UDF candidate says his repeated attempts to rope in Centre’s assistance to resolve coastal woes were turned down, and was told that shoreline protection was part of the State’s mandate

Incumbent MP and United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency Shashi Tharoor has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of propagating falsehoods among coastal communities in a bid to sway votes in the region.

Addressing media persons here on Sunday, he lashed out at National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar for allegedly dishing out lies during a recent visit to Pozhiyoor, near Neyyattinkara. The BJP leader, Mr. Tharoor said, claimed to have found solutions to the plight of coastal residents “within a few hours”, while blaming him for doing nothing to stem the coastal erosion in the area.

In Parliament

He pointed out his repeated attempts to rope in the Centre’s assistance to resolve the State’s coastal woes were turned down.

While the issue was raised at the Parliament too, he was provided with a response that “shoreline protection is in the mandate of the State government and the Central government is not able to assist”, Mr. Tharoor said.

He added that he had petitioned three separate Ministries, including the Ministry of Jal Shakti headed by Mr. Chandrasekhar, seeking assistance for the construction of groynes and other shore protection structures, only to be informed that such a project had to be implemented by State funds.

Details of funds

Despite adopting an apathetic stance towards the cause, the BJP has erected flex boards to display a letter issued by a Central government official to mislead the public, he alleged. He demanded to know the details of funds allocated and the department which has initiated works as claimed by the NDA candidate.

MPLAD fund

The Congress leader said that he had allocated an amount of ₹1.5 crore from the limited funds available at his disposal under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme for coastal protection works at Pozhiyoor.

PTI Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar greets UDF candidate Shashi Tharoor on the occasion of Palm Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.