Smart City: Kerala govt not to sign deal before polls

The much-touted Smart City project has run into rough weather again with Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy announcing his government's decision not to sign the final contract with Dubai Internet City (DIC).

Swallowing his own words within 24 hours of expressing the government's readiness to ink the deal anytime soon after getting the nod from the High Court on Tuesday, Chandy played his political card obviously to blunt the criticism of the project from the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and said, "Let the people's court decide the issue".

In a dramatic development on Wednesday evening, Chandy said the government was backing out from signing the final contract of the project. He, however, said the United Democratic Front (UDF) government would sign the deal if it returned to power by electorate in the coming Assembly elections.

While the UDF is using the prestigious Smart City project as a gateway to IT development in the state, LDF, especially its main constituent CPI (M), is trying to sabotage the project in order to protect their political interests.

Earlier, the project was delayed as the Election Commission objected to signing of the deal in this regard citing the election code of conduct. But the Kerala High Court overruled the objection stating that the decision to sign the deal was taken much before the elections for the Assembly were announced by EC.

In a smart finishing touch to its campaign, the UDF has put a crucial question before the electorate. Whether they want a government that works for the development of the state? Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during their campaign in the state focused on developmental issues while avoiding any criticism of the Left parties. Both the leaders asked voters to vote for development.

The CPI (M) is vehemently opposing the project describing it as a mere real estate deal. But in a turnaround with the elections round the corner, now they say that the LDF is not against the project, but only opposes some conditions of the contract. Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary of the CPI (M), said that the LDF would re-examine the project if was voted to power. He also said that the Info Park at Kakkanad near Kochi would not be handed over to Dubai Internet City (DIC) under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to place the details of the draft contract on the official website for the perusal of public.