V Muraleedharan, Chennithala reject CPM’s Congress-BJP nexus charge over ED raids

Thiruvananthapuram: A political war of words erupted in Kerala on Wednesday after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at premises linked to former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the alleged CMRL-Exalogic financial transactions case. While the CPM termed the searches a politically motivated “Congress-BJP operation” aimed at targeting the party and its top leader, BJP and Congress leaders rejected the allegation and hit back at the Marxist party.

Rejecting the CPM’s allegations, BJP leader and former Union minister V Muraleedharan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “better things to do” than target the CPM through political deals with the Congress.

“You think Narendra Modi has nothing better to do but make deals with the Congress to end a party that has a presence in Kerala and maybe won one seat in West Bengal? It’s a huge joke,” Muraleedharan said.

He also questioned why Vijayan should be concerned about the raids if he had done nothing wrong and said the law should be allowed to take its course.

Muraleedharan further alleged that the Kerala government and Vijayan’s daughter, Veena Vijayan, had approached various high courts in Kerala, Karnataka and Delhi to stall the ED and Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probes. He also claimed that the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation had spent around ₹2 crore from the public exchequer on litigation connected to the case.

Meanwhile, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala also dismissed CPM allegations that the searches were linked to a recent meeting between Modi and Chief Minister V D Satheesan. Chennithala said meetings between the prime minister and the chief minister were part of routine governance and accused the CPM of having maintained closer ties with the BJP in the past.

“They need to tell people how that partnership ended and why,” he said, referring to the CPM.

He also clarified that the Kerala police and Home Department were not informed in advance about the ED operation and that central forces were used during the searches.

Chief Minister Satheesan is yet to react to the matter.

Senior CPM leaders, including M A Baby and M V Govindan, alleged that central agencies were being used to weaken the party in Kerala. Protests were held by CPM workers at several places in the state, including outside Vijayan’s residence in Kannur, which was among the locations searched by the ED.

Addressing reporters after the searches at his rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayan alleged that the ED action was part of a broader crackdown by the BJP-led Centre against opposition leaders across the country.

The veteran CPM leader also alleged that the Congress had remained silent over ED action against opposition leaders and claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had repeatedly questioned why no action had been taken against him earlier.

The ED searches are linked to allegations that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd paid ₹1.72 crore to Exalogic Solutions, a company owned by Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan, between 2017 and 2020 without receiving services in return. The agency is probing the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The searches were conducted at around 10 premises across Kerala, including Vijayan’s rented house in Thiruvananthapuram, a location in Kannur and residences linked to key officials of CMRL. The action came a day after the Kerala High Court dismissed a plea by CMRL seeking to quash the ED proceedings.

The CPI State Secretariat also criticised the ED action, calling it politically motivated and questioning whether the Congress had softened its earlier criticism that the BJP-led Centre was using the ED as a political tool against opponents.