Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday lambasted the Central agencies investigating various corruption charges against his Government and alleged that all these probes were as per script prepared by forces outside the State.
“Certain forces want to tarnish the image of my government and they are discrediting the good works done by us during the last five years. This is against federalism and an open violation of the Constitution,” said Vijayan who read out a statement from a prepared speech.
Addressing the media as part of briefing the Covid-19 situation in the State, Vijayan came down heavily on Enforcement Directorate for exceeding its brief and interfering in the affairs of the State. The ED is probing charges of money laundering and gold smuggling scam in which the Chief Minister’s Office is allegedly involved.
M Sivsankar, the former principal secretary to the Chief Minister who is also his close confidante has been arrested in connection with the case and is under the custody of the agency. Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan too was arrested by the agency for his role in narcotic smuggling and money laundering. The two arrests have brought the opposition parties to the streets and has put the CPI(M)-led government in a dilemma.
Chief Minister blamed both the central agencies and the media for selective leaking and publishing of certain reports which he said was against all norms. “The State Government is observing the norms specified in the Constitution. But these agencies are investigating the cases with ulterior motives as they have a hidden agenda,” charged Vijayan.
He read out a list of encomiums bestowed on his government by some NGOs and media houses and said that it proved that Kerala was the best managed State in the country. Though the Chief Minister did not point out the kind of trespass made by the central agencies, he alleged that certain forces were behind the the attempts to sabotage LIFE Mission and K-Phone projects, two flagship programmes of the State.
The K-Phone Project (Kerala Fibre Optic Network) is a joint venture between two public sector undertakings, Kerala State Electricity Board and Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd, which envisages internet connectivity to 2 million houses free of cost.
There were reservations expressed by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission which questioned the viability of such a project while the Centre’s Bharat Net mission was on the verge of completion.
The GST Intelligence Wing of the Centre had seized some of the documents including details of cable purchase agreement from the KSEB. The CPI(M) polit bureau in its statement had demanded the other day that the CBI should not be allowed in Kerala.