UDF, LDF vote for pvt investment

KERALA ASSEMBLY POLL 2006

As Marxist supremo VS Achuthananthan voted in the temple town of Ambalapuzha in Allapuzha district and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy faced voters in neighbouring Kottayam district in the first phase, one this was clear.

The development of Kerala, which goes to polls in the second phase tomorrow, has become synonymous with opening up of the economy in every sphere.

While the Congress government run by Chandy has tried to develop the state by opening up IT and education to FDI and private investment, Marxists have been promising they will not shy away from taking the same path either.

The first announcement by the Left came this December at a conference on "An Agenda for Kerala's Development: 2006-2015" organised by AKG Centre for Research and Studies in Thiruvananthapuram. The conference declared there was no option other than to open up the state's economy.

Now, senior Marxist economists swear by the conference's report, which provides them a safe ground for talking about liberalisation without hurting either the cautious faction led by Achthananthan and the more adventurous group led by Pinarayi Vijayan.

Dr Thomas Isaac, an economist and the brain behind successful decentralisation of power in the state, who is contesting from Mararikulam in Alappuzha district, says the Marxist plan for opening the economy will follow the conference report. He adds the main source of investment will be small scale capital and remittances from NRI Malayalis.

The report says the state needs an investment rate of 39.6 per cent for the next 10 years. The present investment rate is 22 per cent. The report says 80 per cent of the additional investment will have to come from the private sector.

The report talks about NRI remittances, which form the bulk of Kerala's earnings and the need for an investment-friendly climate to enable domestic savings to flow into agriculture and industry.

The second phase tomorrow phase will decide the fate of VS along with DIC(K) President K Muraleedharan and PK Kunhalikkutty of the Muslim League.