Congress cries foul as children's library knocked down to build memorial for Kerala's first CM

The Congress-led opposition on Thursday cried foul as a children's library was knocked down as a memorial for the state's first Chief Minister EMS Nampoothiripad is being built inside the Kerala Assembly complex in Thiruvananthapuram.

The children's library was constructed at a cost of Rs 7 lakh by the previous Oommen Chandy government. The cost for building the memorial is around Rs 83 lakhs.

Senior Congress legislator VD Sateesan said that the Pinarayi Vijayan government is "blowing up money" in a strange way in a situation when the state finances are precariously placed.

"We have nothing against building a memorial for EMS, but what's the need for knocking down a recently constructed children's library. Another massive construction that's presently going on is the huge revamp of the hall in the Assembly complex. This hall also is in perfect condition, but the revamp is going on at a cost of Rs 16.50 crore. It should also be noted that this has been given without any tender to a group," said Sateesan.

Incidentally the opposition is miffed as they were kept in the dark despite a convention of the Assembly that any construction activities are generally discussed beforehand.