The Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan was is no mood to take any questions from the media on Wednesday on his cabinet's decision in the SNC Lavalin corruption case.
Sources say, the decision would go by the state Advocate-General's advice, asking not to permit the CBI to prosecute CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the case, apparently sidelining the CM within the party.
The national leadership also backed Vijayan to the hilt, calling the CBI probe a `political conspiracy'.
Says Achuthanandan: "The Kerala cabinet has decided to convey its decision on the Lavalin case to the Governor. Everything need not be told to the media."
The SNC Lavalin scandal of 1996 is still spoken of as one of Kerala's biggest scams. It left the state exchequer poorer by 374 crore rupees. Vijayan as power minister then is alleged to have awarded the contract to the Canadian firm to renovate hydropower projects and many senior electricity board officials were said to have been in league with Vijayan.
All eyes are on R S Gavai, the Governor of Kerala, to know if he would accept or reject the cabinet's decision. The opposition UDF is already putting pressure on Gavai, a Congress leader from Maharashtra by announcing a state wide protest in the state from 6 am to 6 pm on Thursday.
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