The assembly on Thursday witnessed barbs, sarcastic digs, passionate replies to allegations and counter-allegations when the Opposition has tried to put chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on mat in connection with the adjournment motion moved by P T Thomas over the gold smuggling case.
When the Opposition remarks crossed the limits, the Chief Minister reminded the opposition that he was a special genus who cannot be cowed down by flimsy allegations. To this, the Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala retorted by asking whether it was the quality of this special genus to lead the state after being miserably failed to control his office. The Opposition later walked out of the House after it was denied permission to move an adjourned motion.
Excerpts from the crossfire between chief minister and PT Thomas
PT: You are the first accused in the gold smuggling case
CM: PT Thomas is yet to understand Pinarayi Vijayan. You had once tried to implicate me in one case (Lavlin) for a long time. Later, the court put all those things in the bin. These hands are clean (raising his hands in the air). This chest (his) has the courage to speak out this truth. I am a special genus.
PT: The chief minister was shocked when all the enforcement agencies came to the picture after the gold smuggling case
CM: The people of the state know who had fled a house on hearing about the arrival of enforcement officials to raid the house. Not anyone from the office of the chief minister who fled the house. You should not forget the fact that the money sourced from the gold smuggling is also used in the real estate sector.
PT: Are you a Communist? Whether PR agencies made the image of Pinarayi?
CM: Don’t try to scare Communists by telling them about jails. Your seniors had once tried to break my leg when I was in jail. Never bowed down in front of anyone when my spine was tried to break. No PR agencies made me eligible to sit in the chair of the chief minister. Sits in the chair of the chief minister just because I am eligible for it.
PT: Gold smuggling comes under the ambit of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). You will be the first Communist minister to be put behind the bars in Kerala.
CM: The opposition ambition will remain as a dream. The central agencies have tried to cast nets to get something. But they didn’t even get a Paral (A kind of small fish belong to Puntius species)
PT: The relation between disgraced IAS officer Sivasankar and chief minister began during the time Lavlin time
CM: It was in 1995 Sivasankar was given IAS. A K Antony was ruling the state then. Sivasankar was then given the charge of DPI and general education department secretary. Later it was during the time of UDF he was given the charge of KSEB chairman and power secretary.
PT: Chief Minister should make clear that Swapna Suresh has reached the house of CM on the eve of the marriage of his daughter
CM: The marriage of my daughter was held in the larger room in the cliff house building. Some wicked minds had morphed the face of the wife of E P Jayarajan to create an impression that Swapna Suresh had reached there.
CM: Ramesh Chennithala failed to rein in PT due to the ‘Group feud’ in the Congress
Ramesh: After clipping the wings of V S Achuthanandan who held the party secretary post for about eight years and taking control of the party, Pinarayi has no right to speak about the Groups in the Congress. You are the master in group politics. The Lavlin case was postponed for about 20 times due to the understanding between BJP and the Chief Minister. According to reports he has close connections with Nitin Gadkari and Amit Sha.
PT: The time is not too far for the second renaissance leader to become an underworld leader.