Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is turning a blind eye to the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) pay-off case involving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter owing to the “unholy nexus” between the CPI(M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Addressing a press conference at the District Congress Committee office here on December 8 (Friday), Mr. Satheesan asked why the ED, which is “persecuting every Congress Chief Minister”, is going easy on Mr. Vijayan. Postponing the SNC Lavalin case for 38 times is also owing to this unholy nexus, he said.
“The case (CMRL pay-off case) comes under the ambit of the money laundering Act. It is being neglected despite a verdict passed by a quasi-judicial body such as the Income Tax Department’s Interim Board for Settlement,” Mr. Satheesan said.
The Navakerala Sadas is being turned into a political event at people’s expense for criticising the Opposition Leader and the Opposition, said Mr. Satheesan about the attacks against him by the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues at his Assembly constituency North Paravur on Thursday.
The Labour department had been threatening traders in North Paravur to illuminate their shops in connection with the Navakerala Sadas, while donations were collected forcefully by the Good and Services Tax and other departments. Workers with the Kudumbashree, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme, Haritha Karma Sena, ASHA and anganwadis and Literacy Mission preraks were threatened into attending the Navakerala Sadas at North Paravur, Mr. Satheesan alleged.
‘Peaceful protests banned’
Kerala has been turned into a State where peaceful political protests remain banned. Even a 72-year-old vegetable vendor at Aluva was beaten up by CITU workers for criticising the Chief Minister and the Navakerala Sadas. This was against the tradition of Kerala known for its highly-informed political debate in tea shops and provision stores, Mr. Satheesan said.
A reign of terror under an autocrat prevails in the State. A 50-member gang of hooligans is following the Navakerala Sadas to beat up protesters. Even mediapersons are coming under attack for doing their job, he alleged.
Mr. Satheesan alleged that the police had tried to protect the accused in the case in which a young woman doctor died by suicide in Thiruvananthapuram following dowry demand. No case was registered on the first day after the death was reported and her suicide note was also kept under the wraps before it was released and a non-bailable case was registered under pressure the next day, he said.
The police had also failed to clear the mystery behind the abduction of a girl in Kollam, he added.
Mr. Satheesan said that UDF MLAs will raise their opinions in the Assembly and need not attend the Navakerala Sadas for this. He also asked the Chief Minister to “mind his own business” when asked about the latter’s comment that the UDF decision to boycott the Navakerala Sadas was announced by the Opposition Leader and not by the UDF convener.
He said that in the UDF, decisions are taken collectively unlike in the LDF where the Chief Minister’s writ runs.
Mr. Satheesan also wondered whether there was even a single minister in the Cabinet who has “the courage to stand up and question the Chief Minister.”
