VS goes on the offensive

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan has unleashed a tirade against the UDF Government for trying to implicate him in a petty land deal case and said he would not be following the false morality of those who stick to power even after being framed in similar cases.Achuthanandan, whose offer to resign as Opposition Leader was rejected by the party, hinted to mediapersons  that he would quit if a chargesheet was submitted against him in the Vigilance case involving the land assignment to one of his relatives during the fag end of his  tenure as Chief Minister.Reading from a written statement, he said  UDF convener P P Thankachan and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan who  call for his resignation  should understand that  it was within three months of filing an FIR that a final report and a chargesheet, if any, would be submitted."In that case, I would not be following your path. I have already talked to my party leadership in this regard,’’ he said.Achuthanandan said  what has been done against him was fabricated by the political-bureaucratic mafia.‘‘If they think that I could be contained by framing me in a fabricated case, they are in an illusory world. I have been in politics for the last seven  decades. It has been a relentless fight against corruption, sex rackets and mafia gangs. You cannot make me silent  using a false case. Till my last breath I will continue to fight,’’ he said without expressing any emotions.Coming down heavily on the  UDF Govt, he said what had been conspired against him was mere pettiness. He rejected the charge that there  were lapses in the land assignment to one of his relatives.  He also refuted the view that he had not received the support of his party. He said his party would take appropriate  action at the right moment.Reiterating that it was a conspiracy by corrupt elements in the government and bureaucracy, he said the Vigilance team was acting as a puppet in framing a case against him.Meanwhile, the CPM central leadership has rejected Achuthanandan’s offer to resign from the post of Opposition Leader. CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan   said the party would face the case legally and added that the ministers involved in  graft cases charged by Vigilance were still in the govt.