THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The allegations levelled by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the frantic steps taken by the state government to silence her have given enough fodder for the Opposition UDF which has already targeted Pinarayi Vijayan in the case.
The entry of Shaj Kiran, an alleged middleman to settle the case, gave the Congress leadership one more reason to sharpen its attack against him. When the gold smuggling case had happened during July 2020, senior Congress MP K Muraleedharan said it is surprising that Swapna Suresh’s revelations have come immediately after the poll outcome in Thrikkakara. “Pinarayi is yet to react to the poll setback. It will not be surprising if the ongoing controversy has been the mastermind of his detractors within the CPM,” he told TNIE.
In social media, UDF leaders also highlighted the revengeful treatment by CPM of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy when solar scam accused Saritha Nair had levelled serious allegations against him. Oommen Chandy told TNIE that the people are seeing the hungama before their eyes and they have realised the truth. “I am not a person who works with a revengeful mind and doesn’t have any regrets. I have been busy with my work and it will continue unabated. I was dragged into the solar scam just because two of my office staffers had spoken to the accused in the solar scam”, said Oommen Chandy.
On Friday, Congress will march to all collectorates across the state demanding the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan. State president K Sudhakaran will inaugurate the march in front of the Secretariat and leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan will inaugurate the march in Kochi. Protests seeking resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan continued on Thursday across the state.