Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress in Kerala on Sunday demanded the immediate cancellation of a consultancy contract given to London-based PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as the party claims it’s a corrupt one and inked when the said company was banned in the country.
PwC was selected by the Kerala government to prepare a detailed project report of Rs 4.500 crore for 3,000 e-buses. The contract was given in August 2019.
Speaking to the media here, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said, this was a deal that was directly executed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
“Vijayan has no right to give the contract, when the state cabinet had no clue. Wish to know if the State Transport Minister ever knew of this. Moreover, this was given after questions were raised by former Law Commission chairman A.P. Shah, on why he (Vijayan) was handing over fresh contracts to PwC. Vijayan has to answer these,” said Chennithala.
“All the prescribed protocols of awarding contract after inviting tender were not adhered to by Vijayan. Fail to understand how a Communist leader like Vijayan can give a contract to a company like PwC, when their ideology is against it. What’s Vijayan’s interest in this deal? Once Vijayan answers these questions, I will come out with more details,” said Chennithala.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran said he will react only after knowing more.
Vijayan has come under fire from Chennithala on a few projects which have been taken forward during the Covid times.
