A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan snubbed his former cabinet colleague K T Jaleel's call for Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation against P K Kunhalikutty, the ruling CPM made it clear that it was not with Jaleel in his fight against the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader.
CPM acting state secretary A Vijayaraghavan called up Jaleel on Wednesday and asked him to be cautious about his statements, Manorama News reported. The party's stance is that ED should not be allowed to meddle in the cases in the cooperative sector.
The party is also against targeting Kunhalikutty alone, Manorama News reported. Jaleel, a CPM-backed independent MLA and former higher education minister of Kerala, meanwhile reiterated that he would continue his fight against Kunhalikutty. He made it clear in a Facebook post.
Jaleel and Kunhalikutty have been arch-rivals since the former severed ties with the IUML. Jaleel's allegation is that Kunhalikutty has carried out illegal transactions to the tune of Rs 1,021 crore through the Cooperative bank at AR Nagar in Malappuram district.
State Co-operative minister V N Vasavan on Wednesday said it is yet to find out if fraudulent transactions have taken place in AR Nagar bank. The government is awaiting an inquiry report from the cooperative department. The cooperative department has the mechanism to resolve the issues within the sector. Government machinery could not be used to settle scores over personal rivalry, the minister, a CPM leader, said.
The IUML, meanwhile, found a huge relief with the chief minister snubbing Jaleel. "The chief minister has given a deserving reply to Jaleel. It's a setback to Jaleel," IUML general secretary PMA Salam said on Wednesday.
CM Vijayan on Tuesday opposed any sort of probe by ED in the alleged irregularities in the state's cooperative financial institutions, saying the Central agency need not meddle with the cooperative sector.
Vijayan said this in response to a query on the demand by Jaleel for ED probe into the alleged money laundering in the AR Nagar bank, controlled by the IUML.
He also pulled up Jaleel for taking up the matter with the ED. "There is no need for ED to meddle in the cooperative sector of Kerala," Vijayan told a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Chief Minister said the state's Cooperative Department was equipped to investigate such matters and it has already initiated a probe into the alleged irregularities in the A R Nagar Service Cooperative Bank.
His statement came a day after Jaleel held a press conference in Malappuram against Kunhalikutty. In a sarcastic note, Vijayan said Jaleel's trust with ED might have gone up since he himself was questioned by the central agency as part of its investigation into the gold smuggling case.
He said the state Cooperative Department could not move forward in the case due to a court stay.
The Chief Minister's statement has come as setback for Jaleel who has waged a battle against Kunhalikutty, his political rival in Malappuram district.
As part of his moves against Kunhalikutty, Jaleel had given a statement to ED against the Muslim League leader in connection with the alleged financial irregularities committed by the Muslim League leader in the name of financial activities of the Muslim League mouthpiece in the state.
Talking to reporters in Kochi on September 2 after giving his statement, Jaleel said the ED had taken note of the allegations he had levelled against Kunhalikutty both inside and outside the State Assembly and had issued a notice to him for taking his statement. Kunhalikutty is the leader of IUML in the Assembly.
Jaleel had said he has provided the ED with some documents to prove his allegations and will provide more documents in connection with the case.
The former Higher Education Minister had also claimed that the ED had issued summons to Kunhalikutty and his son for questioning in the matter.
There was no immediate reaction from Kunhalikutty or Muslim League
