THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan paid tributes to his predecessor Oommen Chandy at the commemoration meeting organised by KPCC, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan accused the LDF of trying to tarnish the late Congress leader’s image at the fag end of his life.
Casting aspersions on Pinarayi, Satheesan alleged on Tuesday that the chief minister had ensured that the victim in the solar case was summoned, and made her lodge a complaint which resulted in the CBI probe.
Satheesan launched a tirade against the CM and CPM after LDF convener E P Jayarajan claimed they had never engaged in a witch hunt against Chandy.
Saying that time will prove Chandy’s innocence in the case, Satheesan told reporters that UDF was ready for a political battle in the byelection to the Puthuppally assembly seat.
The statement is in stark contrast to KPCC president K Sudhakaran’s remark that LDF should not field a candidate in the constituency as a tribute to Chandy.
“We don’t want anyone’s sacrifice. We will contest from Puthuppally, represented by Chandy for 53 years, with our heads held high. None should have any doubt about it,” he said. Satheesan alleged Chandy had been on a winning spree since holding the mass contact programmes which earned him public accolades.
The LDF government then decided to humiliate him by hatching a conspiracy to implicate him in the solar case, Satheesan claimed. Though three to four police officials probed Chandy’s alleged role in the case, nothing materialised, he said.
“The investigation team repeatedly said Chandy had not caused a loss of even a rupee to the exchequer and that a case could not be registered against him. What happened to the CBI probe that targeted a leader who served as chief minister for seven years? CPM will not be able to come clean about their actions. It should not have made us say this,” Satheesan said.
Targeting Pinarayi, Satheesan said the hearing on the SNC Lavalin case involving the CM was postponed 35 times after he managed to influence the BJP.
“Was it not the CM’s principal secretary who languished in jail for 100 days in the gold smuggling case? Didn’t the same person end up in jail again in the LIFE Mission case? Is it, not the CM who is the chairman of LIFE Mission? It is the CM who has come under a cloud in the AI camera and KFON scams,” he said.