Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan owes an apology to senior Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, K.C. Venugopal, A.P. Anilkumar, Hibi Eden, and Adoor Prakash, for insisting on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the solar case, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said.
Despite the Chief Minister knowing that there was not an iota of truth in the allegations, he insisted on a probe by the Central agency with vengeance, Mr. Satheesan said here on Wednesday. He added that it was a case of pure political vendetta. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 138th anniversary celebrations of the Congress.
The Chief Minister tried to explain away the CBI probe claiming that the complainant had insisted on it. “How is it then that there is a woman complainant now in the gold smuggling case, and no CBI probe is being sought by the Chief Minister?” Mr. Satheesan asked.
He said the CPI(M) had a tradition of foisting false cases on those leaving the party. In the case of Congress leaders, the Chief Minister was resorting to the same modus operandi. “But with the CBI giving them a clean chit, Mr. Vijayan should apologise to the Congress leaders, their family members, and well-wishers who were forced to put up with the shame and pain of going through such a harrowing experience,” the Opposition Leader said.
He expressed surprise that the CPI(M) leadership had not reacted to allegations against E.P. Jayarajan which revolved around money laundering and nexus with goons. It is a case of corruption that has been exposed, and the CPI(M) leadership is silent on it, Mr. Satheesan claimed.