CPI(M) legislators will support Ashok Gehlot government: Sitaram Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday alleged that efforts are being made to destablise the Left-led Kerala government by the Congress and the BJP on the pretext of the gold smuggling case.

He, however, said the two legislators of his party will support the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan.

Addressing a virtual press conference at the end of a two-day meeting of the party’s central committee, Yechury alleged the assaults on state governments have intensified during the pandemic.

“At a time, when we should be working together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the opposition led by the Congress is working in tandem with the BJP and using disruptive politics to destablise the Left government, but people of Kerala will never allow it,” he said.

He said efforts are being made to “target the Left front government in Kerala” using the excuse of the gold smuggling case, which he said is “already under investigation by the NIA on the request of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan”.

“And appropriate action will be taken against the guilty,” he said.

The case pertains to an attempt to smuggle gold through diplomatic baggage using the name of a person in the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. The Customs seized the gold, weighing over 30 kg and valued at around Rs 15 crore, on July 5.

The matter took a political turn after senior IAS officer M Sivasankar, principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and IT secretary, was reportedly found to have close links with some of the accused in the case. He was later suspended.

The CPI(M) leader hit out at the BJP for “engineering” governments in various states.

“The efforts to destabilise the state governments have in fact intensified during the pandemic. We have seen how the BJP has engineered the governments in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and now what they are doing in Rajasthan,” he said.

Yechury also criticised Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra for “not abiding by the constitutional principle” in the current political situation in the state.

“Despite the council of ministers seeking a vote of confidence, in the light of efforts to topple the government through large-scale horse-trading of MLAs, the constitutional authority--the Governor--is not abiding by the constitutional principle that he will work on the basis of advice of council of ministers,” he said.

He clarified that both the legislators of CPI(M) in Rajasthan assembly will "defeat the BJP in its attempts to topple the Ashok Gehlot government in the state".

“Both our MLAs are adhering to this understanding. Whenever the question arises, we will take a position to defeat BJP’s machinations,” Yechury added.