'Pleasing Sangh Parivar leaders': Kerala Congress attacks Pinarayi Vijayan over gold smuggling remarks

Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition Congress on Tuesday intensified its attack against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his recent statements on gold smuggling through an international airport in Malappuram district and alleged that his remarks were to please the Sangh Parivar leaders in New Delhi.

The grand old party sought to know based on which information the CM had made such a revelation.

It also made it clear that the CM has an obligation to say what action the state government and the police have taken against the accused if they received money for anti-national activities through gold smuggling.

Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan, lashed out at CM Vijayan, alleging that his statements to a national media outlet in New Delhi contradicted his previous claims made in the Assembly and elsewhere.

"The chief minister's remarks that the money reached Malappuram through gold smuggling is used for anti-national activities is meant to please the Sangh Parivar leaders in New Delhi," he said.

If the CM's statements are said to be true, then it is a serious issue, Satheesan said, and asked why the government had hidden this till now.

The LoP further charged that the CM's disclosure came close after the opposition exposed the "unholy relationship" of the CM and the CPI(M) with the Sangh Parivar. So, Vijayan's statement could only be seen as an attempt to cover up his embarrassment over this.

If the revelation was true, it amounted to admitting the failure of the Home Department headed by the CM himself, Satheesan said.

The LoP's remarks came following Vijayan's recent interview with an English daily in which he said that money from gold smuggling through Karipur International Airport in Malappuram district and hawala transactions was used for "anti-state" and "anti-national activities." The Congress and its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), had lashed out at Vijayan over his remarks, saying that people of Malappuram were being targeted to settle his scores with Nilambur MLA P V Anvar.

Nilambur constituency is in Malappuram district.

Anvar, who was earlier backed by the Left alliance, has been locking horns with the ruling CPI(M) and Vijayan for the past few weeks over various issues, which has led to the Communist party cutting ties with him.

The Nilambur MLA has been accusing ADGP (Law and Order), M R Ajithkumar and other senior police officials of not following proper procedure while seizing gold illegally brought from abroad.