Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
Credit: PTI Photo
The prolonged silence of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the Income Tax department's remarks against his daughter seems to have put the burden on the party state leadership to defend it.
CPM state secretary M V Govindan had to even walk out from a press conference to evade questions on the matter and many party leaders are getting agitated at the media for raising the issue.
The Income Tax Interim Settlement Board's report stating that Vijayan's daughter Veena T and her Bengaluru-based IT firm Exalogic Solutions received Rs. 1.72 crore from Cochin Minerals and Rutiles Limited during 2016-20 without rendering any services came out last Wednesday.
The CPM state secretariat swiftly issued a statement justifying that the payments by the controversial firm to Veena was part of a legal agreement for rendering services. CPM camps also alleged political ploy in the remarks of the IT department over Veena's connection with Pinarayi Vijayan.
However, rubbing salt to the injury Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan came out with allegations of discrepancies in the funds received by Veena and the income of spouse mentioned by her husband and Tourism Minister Mohammed Riyas in the affidavit submitted along with nomination for 2021 Assembly election.
Vijayan and his daughter are maintaining silence on the allegations. Riyas also did not reply to queries on the allegations regarding his election affidavit.
Meanwhile, Congress state leadership, which had been so far going soft on the Income Tax report, is also trying to cash in on Vijayan's silence.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said on Wednesday that the issue would be raised in the ongoing by-poll campaign at Puthuppally Assembly constituency. He also accused the Chief Minister for his silence on the matter.
The Income Tax report contained names of senior Congress leaders who accepted funds from CMRL. The Congress maintained that those were donations for the party that were properly accounted for.