THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy has sought an apology from the CPM leadership for dragging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi into the buffer zone issue. He was speaking to reporters at Indira Bhavan on Tuesday.
Reiterating that it is the sole responsibility of the LDF government to solve the buffer zone issue, Chandy said its lack of vigil and maladministration led to the current imbroglio. Instead of admitting its mistake, LDF government has put the blame on the UDF which had only come forward to help the local people, he said.
“We cannot tolerate the hardships of the people living in the high-range areas as they are bothered by attacks from wild animals, farming land getting destroyed, and recurring floods. When the Gadgil report and Kasturirangan report came out with recommendations that might hamper the interests of farmers, the UDF had made amendments to it”, said Oommen Chandy.
It may be recalled that it was during Oommen Chandy’s tenure as chief minister in 2011 that the then UDF Government sought the intervention of the Union Forest and Environment Ministry to ensure that farmers and the local people coming under the buffer zone do not face any difficulties.