Marxist veteran and leader of the opposition in Kerala Assembly V S Achuthanandan today refused to accept a TV presented to him by state minister K P Mohanan on the occasion of Vishu festival.
Though the 88-year-old leader did not append any reason for turning down the gift, his move apparently came in the wake of widespread criticism over the agriculture minister's largesse to legislators using public funds at a time when the state is facing a grim drought.
While confirming rejection of the gift, a spokesperson at Achuthanandan's office said the opposition leader decided against accepting the largesse since he has TV sets at both his office and residence. "We don't want to be drawn into the controversy over it. We have nothing more to add," he said.
Ironically, Achuthanandan's action came as an embarrassment for LDF that he commands in the assembly as some of its leaders have justified acceptance of the gift saying there is nothing unusual about it.
Mohanan had also justified his decision, saying there is nothing new about giving gifts to legislators as this kind of things have been done in the past also.
The minister's largesse had drawn adverse coverage in local media with a section of them criticising the wisdom of spending lakhs of rupees from the public exchequer at a time government has to make additional provisions for tackling drought gripping the state.
