Thiruvananthapuram: Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma said that the controversy over deep sea fishing contract was a result of a conspiracy between Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and representatives of EMCC.

On Sunday, Mercykutty Amma admitted that representatives of US company EMCC International had met her but denied the allegation that they had met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with her.

Earlier in the day, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had repeated the allegations against the state government over the deep sea fishing contract with a US-based firm.

Addressing a press meet here on Sunday, Chennithala had alleged that the Chief Minister was hiding the conditions of the deep sea fishing contract. He pointed out that the EMCC held talks with the Fisheries Minister in New York as part of the contract.

“Earlier Mercykutty Amma rejected the proposal of the company. But Jayarajan convinced the company to carry out the project and allotted land to execute it. The Chief Minister’s department has also signed an agreement with the firm for building fishing vessels,” added Chennithala.

Chennithala also released the documents of the 4-acre land allotted to EMCC for the KSIDC project and MoU signed between the government and EMCC during Ascend Kerala, the global investors meet.

Ramesh Chennithala criticised Mercykutty Amma for giving contradictory statements over his allegations. He also challenged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to cancel the MoU and allotment of land to EMCC if the meeting had not taken place.