THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM on Tuesday granted Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and state secretariat member P A Mohamed Riyas the nod to take legal action against the UDF government’s decision to go for a preliminary inquiry following the Enforcement Directorate’s request to probe the bribery allegations against them.
At the CPM state secretariat meeting on the day, the two leaders explained the ED’s move to implicate them, and how such attempts against Pinarayi were rejected by four courts. The committee unanimously decided that both leaders should approach the judiciary, while the party would take up the matter politically. It was also decided to organise mass protest programmes in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the CPM also decided to take up the recent controversies surrounding Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s chartered flight journey, K M Shaji’s use of a luxury car belonging to another individual and several ministers’ foreign trips.
During the discussion at the meet, it was reported that Shaji’s claim that the car’s owner, Yakoob, was merely a close friend was an attempt to cover up the real issue. A few leaders said Yakoob is part of a 22-member rebel faction that wanted to be included in the committee of CH Mohammad Memorial Higher Secondary School at Kavumpadi, Thillenkery, in Kannur. They said the faction’s earlier demand for permission to attend the general body meeting had not materialised.
They said the education department had now instructed the school to let the faction attend the September 26 general body meeting. This, as per the CPM, was after Shaji intervened. The party decided to bring the internal feud to public domain.
Briefing the media after the meeting, CPM state secretary M V Govindan alleged that the UDF government had become the B-Team of Sangh Parivar in Keralam.
“The decision to form an SIT on the ED’s request is clear evidence of this,” he said, adding, “The whole case is forged, as all the witnesses who were intimidated by the ED have now withdrawn their statements. A false case was fabricated to implicate Pinarayi Vijayan and Riyas. The CPM is not afraid of the case. We will fight it politically and legally,” he said.
