BJP asks Election Commission to implement code impartially in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: With the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghat conservation becoming a hot poll debate in the state, BJP Kerala unit has told the Election Commission that the Centre's move to issue a new notification on the report was to 'appease' a section of people in the state.

BJP State President V Muraleedharan stated this in a letter to State Chief Electoral Officer and asked EC to implement the model code of conduct impartially.

The state unit also objected to some cabinet decisions taken on Wednesday, the day the Lok Sabha poll dates were announced.

As a relief ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UDF government had received an assurance yesterday from the Centre that a new notification on the report would be issued, addressing the state's concerns.

The Kerala government had earlier submitted an experts' panel report which wanted human settlements, farmlands and plantations to be exempted from the ambit of the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).

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The issue has assumed political urgency with UDF partner Kerala Congress-M (KCM) pressing for a notification amid protests by Catholic-church backed local resistance groups in areas like high range Idukki district.

A key component in UDF, KCM has even threatened to take harsh decisions if the issue was not resolved urgently.      

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Nearly three million people live in settlements in 123 villages included in the ESA category by the committee and their livelihood would be in jeopardy if the report is implemented in the present form.