Brewery controversy: Satheesan and Chennithala are competing to spread lies, says Minister M B Rajesh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Excise Minister MB Rajesh mocked opposition leader VD Satheesan over the liquor plant controversy, accusing him of presenting publicly available information as new evidence. The minister stated that the document released by the opposition leader had already been published on the government website as a cabinet note two weeks ago. He made these remarks during a press conference held in Thiruvananthapuram.

"As everyone knows, various information regarding the government is easily available on the internet. You can simply search on the internet and find this information. Yet, the opposition is presenting such a piece of information as if it were some kind of classified document. All such information has been made available on the website since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power. Both the opposition leader and the former opposition leader are competing to spread lies. They are lying by claiming that only one company was aware of the policy change," the minister stated.

VD Satheesan had recently alleged that the decision to approve a liquor manufacturing unit in Elappully, Palakkad, was taken solely by the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister. He backed his claim by releasing a Cabinet note related to the matter. In response, Minister MB Rajesh countered that the note had already been publicly available and was being misrepresented as new evidence.

On November 8 of last year, the Chief Minister issued the order to submit the file for the Cabinet meeting, and the file clearly states that no approval was sought from any other department, nor was there any communication with them. The documents released provide evidence that the liquor manufacturing plants were approved for Oasis Company without holding any discussions with others.

"The note presented for the Cabinet meeting’s consideration has now been made public. No other departments were aware of the project's details. There was no discussion within the front either. Just tell us how much money was received, and that would be enough," VD Satheesan stated.