THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM will counter the Enforcement Directorate (ED) politically and legally and launch a campaign against what it described as anti-democratic actions, state secretary M V Govindan said on Friday.
He also defended Beypore MLA P A Mohamed Riyas amid questions over an alleged business venture.
Govindan accused the ED of targeting the CPM and Left movement, alleging that the agency was creating new narratives after failing to make progress with the Exalogic-related case. He alleged that central agencies were being used to threaten opposition parties and bring them under control.
On questions surrounding Riyas’ alleged business venture, Govindan said the party had no objection to its members or their families starting businesses.
Merely considering a business venture did not require party intervention, he said. “Veena is not a member of CPM. The party has never decided that someone cannot run a business merely because she is the daughter of a party comrade. That is not a question of morality,” he said. He said the party need not know about a business at the stage of merely considering it and that it would become relevant for the party when a business was actually started. Party members’ children, he pointed out, were not themselves members and were engaged in various professions and businesses.
At the same time, Govindan said the CPM had decided to examine the assets of all party members and their families by November. Govindan also questioned why there was no comparable discussion on the money allegedly received by UDF leaders, referring specifically to Ramesh Chennithala and P K Kunhalikutty.
On the Exalogic controversy, Govindan maintained that the transactions between the two companies were based on an agreement and that the payments had been made through banking channels after paying applicable income tax. He alleged that the ED was now replacing the earlier narrative with a new one involving an alleged hawala transaction.
GOVT FLAYED OVER POWER CUTS, PRESS FREEDOM
T’Puram: The CPM on Friday launched a scathing attack on the UDF government, accusing it of pushing Keralam back to an era of power cuts, and mounting an unprecedented assault on media freedom. CPM state secretary M V Govindan said Keralam had remained free of power cuts and load-shedding during the 10 years of LDF rule, but the UDF government had brought the state back to the situation within days of assuming office.
He alleged that the government was using the power crisis as a pretext to strike “big deals” with private power firms, with the possibility of public money being “poured out” to benefit corporates. Referring to the police action at the newsroom of Reporter channel, he said, “There was nothing wrong in taking legal action if the head of a media organisation had committed an offence. However, entering a newsroom in the name of a raid, disrupting its functioning could not be accepted.”