THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Terming the Centre’s probe against the IT firm of the chief minister’s daughter ‘political vendetta’, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the party was not afraid of the investigation.
Interacting with reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, Govindan said the BJP government at the Centre has been misusing central agencies with political motives. He said Exalogic Solutions was under scanner only because it was owned by the CM’s daughter.
The Centre’s move was clearly a part of political vendetta, Govindan said. “There is no need for CPM to be afraid about the probe. Let the government agency complete the investigation,” he said.
On his controversial remark likening Pinarayi Vijayan to the sun, Govindan said it should not be seen as cult worship. He accused the media of misinterpreting his remarks and landing many people, including writers, into the controversy, in an apparent reference to litterateur M T Vasudevan’s critical comments on ‘hero worship’ of ‘people in power’. Govindan reiterated that CPM was not a party that approved cult worship, and added that it has an internal mechanism to correct itself if needed.
“CPM is a party that is open to constructive criticism and is vigilant enough to make changes if required. Let there be no misunderstanding that CPM is a party that resists change,” he said. Govindan also defended his ‘fake medical certificate’ remark against Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil. He said his remarks were based on what the court said while denying Rahul bail. Govindan had recently alleged that Rahul submitted a ‘fake medical certificate’ to obtain bail in a case related to violence during Opposition protests in front of the Secretariat last month.
Rahul, presently in judicial custody, had sent a legal notice to Govindan demanding him to either tender an unconditional apology or pay Rs 1 crore as compensation for the damage caused by his ‘defamatory remarks’. Govindan said there was no question of tendering an apology.