Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did spring a surprise early on Tuesday when he agreed to halt all other Assembly proceedings to discuss gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh's latest allegations against him and his family.
Two earlier Opposition attempts to discuss the gold smuggling scandal in the Assembly after the second Pinarayi ministry came to power - on August 12, 2021, and February 24, 2022 - were rejected.
What ensued was a spirited three-and-a-quarter hour debate on the issue. The Opposition strategy, rather than parroting Swapna's charges, was to raise questions. The Opposition speakers were careful not use anything that Swapna had spoken about the Chief Minister's wife and kids. There was a mention of the Chief Minister's daughter's connections but those were charges raised earlier by the Congress leaders themselves.
The strategy of the ruling members, instead of taking on the UDF posers, was essentially to ridicule Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and bunch the Congress and BJP together to make it look like the Swapna charges were a joint conspiracy hatched to discredit the LDF government.
Significantly, the Chief Minister did not respond to any of the 10 pointed posers hurled at him by the UDF. Instead, he shot back a set of questions, which he said the UDF had failed to ask him. His point was, the questions like who dispatched the gold from the UAE and who received the contraband would seriously embarrass the BJP and, therefore, the Congress kept mum.
The Chief Minister sounded a bit tired and mostly read out from a prepared text. The only time he sounded firm and angry was when he flatly denied the allegation against his daughter. It was the only time during his 50-minute speech that there was a bit of outrage in Vijayan's voice.
The battery of UDF questions were fired by Congress MLA Shafi Parambil who moved the adjournment motion on the issue and, therefore, was the first speaker. The Opposition Leader and Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan also contributed.
One, even after Swapna made such damning allegations against him and his family why did the Chief Minister not seek a legal remedy? Satheesan said the Chief Minister could have moved against Swapna under CrPC section 340 (1) or under IPC Section 193 that could have fetched Swapna a jail term of up to seven years. He said even the public prosecutor could have filed a case under Section 199 of the CrPC.
Two, why did the Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister, say in a reply to the Assembly that he was not aware that Sarith, another accused, was whisked away from his house by a Vigilance team?
Three, who gave the orders to initiate a case against Swapna under Section 153 for provoking riots after former minister K T Jaleel filed a complaint?
Four, Who is Shaj Kiran? Why did he intervene on behalf of the government? Why was a defamation case not slapped on him even after he made serious charges of money laundering against the Chief Minister and the CPM State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan? Why was he allowed to escape to Chennai with his mobile that had incriminating evidence? Why was he not arrested? (CPM MLA V Joy, during his speech, held up pictures of Shaj Kiran with former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.)
Five, why was action not taken against former Vigilance ADGP M R Ajith Kumar if he had erred in talking to Shaj Kiran over phone while he was with Swapna? If it was not to save the Chief Minister, why was he shifted out of Vigilance and given a post equivalent to that if the ADGP Headquarters?
Six, the Chief Minister, in a written reply to the Assembly said that he had not forgotten any bag as alleged by Swapna. But his former principal secretary M Sivasankar, while interrogated by central agencies, had said that it was true that the Chief Minister's Office had in 2016 asked the UAE Consulate to urgently hand over the forgotten bag to the Chief Minister in the UAE. Why this contradiction?
Seven, why did the Chief Minister prefer the diplomatic route to transport his bag when the Kerala Government had its own official means to do it? Why did the Chief Minister need diplomatic immunity for his bag? (This was asked by Kuzhalnadan)
Eight, why is there two kinds of justice for officials. The CM said former IPS officer Jacob Thomas's tell-all memoir 'Swimming with the Sharks' was illegal but allowed Sivasankar to write a memoir while in office.
Nine, it was through Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) that Swapna entered the close circles of the LDF government. Before Swapna's appointment in the IT Department came under a cloud, the website of the Chief Minister's daughter's company, Exalogic, had shown Jaik Balakrishnan, the director of PwC, as Veena's mentor. After the controversy broke out, the website went down. When it returned, the PwC director's mention vanished. (A seemingly agitated Vijayan said it was a lie and rebuked Kuzhalnadan for dragging family members into a political debate.)
Ten, like he had asked for a CBI enquiry into the Solar scam in 2021, will the Chief Minister seek a CBI probe into the gold smuggling allegations since he is convinced of his innocence? (The Chief Minister said the CBI probe was sought because the complainant, solar scam accused Saritha, felt the LDF government was trying to save Oommen Chandy).
Here are some of the questions the Chief Minister felt the UDF should have asked.
One, did the Centre issue a red corner notice against Faisal Fareed, said to be the kingpin of the gold smuggling operations.
Two, why did the Centre create an escape route for the UAE consul general and attache through Delhi though both were involved in the crime?
Three, how did the accused female who claimed she had nothing get a car, a place to stay, a high-paying job and tight security?
Four, who sent the gold from the UAE and who received it in Kerala?
"The Congress will not ask such questions as it would cause discomfort for the BJP," the Chief Minister said and added: "Why is the Congress erecting a layer of protection around the BJP?"