Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 16 (IANS): Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday alleged that the State Electricity Board (KSEB) is being run as a CPI-M party unit and has been indulging in massive corrupt deals.

"This is what we the opposition has been saying that KSEB is a storehouse of corrupt deals and now the KSEB chairman, a senior IAS official in the state, has said the same in his Facebook post. It has now come to light that hundreds of acres of land belonging to the KSEB has been given on lease to pro CPI-M outfits for a song in the name of hydel tourism. These are blatant corrupt deals," said Satheesan.

He also pointed out that all this has been happening since 2016 and the then Minister M.M. Mani a top CPI-M leader, is now threatening the present State Minister for Power K. Krishnankutty, who belongs to an ally of the CPI-M led Left.

"Power purchase agreements have been done without knowledge of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission. This has caused huge losses to the KSEB and it is around Rs 600 crore annually," added Satheesan.

Satheesan demanded a complete probe into the activities of KSEB and wanted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to break his silence.

With the budget session of the Kerala Assembly beginning from Friday, this is one issue which the opposition will be using to take on the Vijayan government.