Monday, October 10 2005 15:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala opposition leader V S Achuthanandan today (Oct 10, 2005) urged Governor R L Bhatia to take action against the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government for its failure to take legal steps to ban the sale of illegal lottery tickets in the state.

After meeting the Governor at the Raj Bhavan, the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) leader accused Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of going back on the promise given to all party-meet a few months back on this issue.

Chief Minister had then promised an all-party meet that a Special Leave Petition would be filed in the Supreme Court in the lotteries case. But no step had been taken in the matter so far, Achuthanandan told reporters after his meeting with the Governor.

He said over 1.5 million people in the state were being deceived by the lure of big money by online and paper lottery rackets every day. The Government had not taken effective steps to end the menace, he alleged.

The Government had also gone back on the assurance to the all-party meet that the Union Home Ministry's help would be sought for restricting sale of lotteries from outside the state, he added.