CPI(M) Polit Bureau Calls ED Move Against Pinarayi Vijayan a Political Vendetta

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau on Thursday condemned the Enforcement Directorate's request to the Kerala Police to file a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas, and T. Veena, who is Vijayan's daughter and Riyas's spouse.

In a statement, the Polit Bureau said it had been clear from the beginning that the investigation into Ms. Veena was merely a cover for targeting the former Chief Minister. It described the move as characteristic of how central agencies are being deployed by the Modi government against Opposition leaders.

The party also took aim at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph, whose support for the ED action and demand for a case to be registered, the CPI(M) said, revealed the Congress's double standards. It pointed out that the same party protests ED actions against its own leaders, including Rahul Gandhi.

The statement recalled that a Congress MLA from Kerala had earlier approached the Vigilance Court, the High Court, and eventually the Supreme Court seeking a case against Pinarayi Vijayan, but the courts had rejected the plea. The CPI(M) said this is the case now being revived.

The Polit Bureau urged the V.D. Satheesan government not to function as an agent of the ED and asserted that the party would resist what it termed a political vendetta through both political and legal means.