Kerala public works department (PWD) minister P A Mohammed Riyas on Friday said he sticks to his recent statement in the state assembly that MLAs should not visit his office with contractors of various projects as it will create trouble in the future.
Riyas made his stand clear on the issue after a section of media reported that he was criticised in the legislative party meeting of the CPI(M) MLAs over his statement in the assembly on October 7.
Talking to the media, Riyas, who is also a CPI(M) leader, dismissed the reports, saying no MLAs had criticised him in the legislative party meeting.
“The MLAs need not visit the minister’s office with contractors. That will create issues in the future. The contractors have their associations. They can approach the ministry if they have any issues to discuss,” Riyas had told the assembly on October 7.
Later, a section of media had reported that Riyas was criticised in the legislative party meeting of the CPI(M) legislators, forcing him to tender an apology.
The ruling CPI(M) also came out in support of Riyas saying what he said was the stand of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Reacting to a query, party state secretary in-charge A Vijayaraghavan said the minister was explaining the stand of the party and the government.
“CPI(M) has already made clear its stand on issues like this. What the minister explained was the stand of the party. The CPI(M) has a clear stand on how the government should function, how the ministers’ offices should function. Our stand is that there should not be any recommendations and things should go on smoothly even without any recommendations,” Vijayaraghavan said.
When asked about the legislative party meeting, the party chief said he was not part of that meeting and alleged that reporters were writing stories as if they had taken part in the CPI(M) legislative party meeting.
