T’puram: Transport minister K B Ganesh Kumar on Friday rubbished opposition leader V D Satheesan’s statement that if voted to power, UDF would relax norms for vehicle modifications. Kumar said neither Satheesan nor leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi would be able to give such relaxations, as the rules for the same are clearly laid out in the central law. Satheesan had earlier said that if UDF comes to power, modifications of vehicles without compromising safety norms would be made legal. Kumar said none of the guarantees promised by the UDF in its election manifesto would work. If implemented, the guarantees promised by Rahul Gandhi and UDF would only ruin Kerala, he added. Meanwhile, the transport minister expressed confidence that he would win the assembly election once again from Pathanapuram constituency, where he is facing a contest by UDF candidate Jyothikumar Chamakkala. Kumar said he did not believe that there was a tough fight between LDF and UDF and claimed that LDF would again come to power in Kerala. “There was decent polling. But we cannot say that it was phenomenal. If it has to be phenomenal, there should be at least 6% increase in the polling percentage,” Kumar said, adding that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led govt had only positives and no negatives. Kumar also rejected the general impression that there was minority consolidation in favour of UDF and said that minorities backed LDF. He said there was no anti-incumbency wave against LDF govt. “There was no politically significant issue that could go against the general goodwill earned by the Pinarayi Vijayan govt and hence, LDF would be back in power for third consecutive time,” Kumar said.
