Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 18 : Kerala Transport Minister Thomas Chandy told the State Assembly that he had investment worth Rs 150 crore in the tourism sector in Alappuzha. The Minister was reacting to opposition allegation that Lake Palace Resort, owned by him, had encroached acres of land in Punnamada lake and constructed 14 illegal buildings violating rules. It was alleged that the Minister disclosed his asset worth Rs 92.37 crore only to the Election Commission. Contrary to it, the Minister stated in the House about his investment of Rs 150 crore in the Lake Palace Resort. The Minister said "I have invested several crores of rupees for the development of the backward district Alappuzha and the Opposition is terming this as a 'mistake' done by me. All I have done for the development of the district. There is no illegal encroachment from my part. All the allegations by the Opposition are politically motivated." However, it was alleged that the Minister had not disclosed the asset details regarding the investment in Lake Palace Resort to the Election Commission violating the rules. Urging the Opposition to send a delegation to Alappuzha to know the truth, the Minister said "I toiled hard in the Middle East for several years and with that money i opened the Lake Palace Resort. I have invested Rs 150 crore and providing employment to several hundreds of people. The recently constructed road near the resort was beneficial to the locals also. I have not made any profit from the project incurring a loss of several lakhs every year. The allegation raised against me is baseless and politically motivated." Meanwhile, Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan, who staged a protest march to the Minister's resort in Alappuzha alleged that the Minister encroached acres of land in the lake and constructed illegal buildings and the Chief Minister was keeping silence to the corruption by his cabinet colleague. He also demanded a detailed probe into all other encroachment cases in the area. UNI
Post A Comment:
0 comments so far,add yours