© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Despite launching various agitations against the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF in recent months, the Opposition Congress-led UDF has failed to build a momentum against the Pinarayi Vijayan government due to various reasons — ranging from power tussle and conflicting interests among Congress leaders to “soft approach” of its key ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) towards the Left.
Last Wednesday, the RSP, another Congress ally, made public its resentment about the UDF’s “failures” to capitalise on the “atmosphere against the Vijayan government”. RSP state secretary and former minister Shibu Baby John said, “People are fed up with the CPI(M) government. The UDF should act by imbibing people’s sentiments. The Opposition should not confine its shows to statements against the government. The Opposition should get involved in people’s issues.”
The UDF recently mounted an onslaught against the CPI(M) over two issues: the case of alleged fund embezzlement at a CPI(M)-controlled cooperative bank in Thrissur and the controversy over an alleged“illegal payment” case in which Vijayan’s daughter Veena has been named. The Opposition sought to turn up the heat on the Vijayan government on both issues, but its offensive lost steam quickly.
Veena was in the eye of a storm after an Income Tax (I-T) department report pertaining to the Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) surfaced, which alleged that CMRL made “illegal payment” of Rs 1.72 crore to her information technology firm, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, over three years from 2018-19, even though the latter did not provide it any service.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan attacked Vijayan over these allegations against Veena’s firm. Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan even went on to charge that Veena had “not paid IGST for Rs 1.72 crore payment to her IT firm”.
The CPI(M) state secretariat denied any illegality in the dealings of Veena’s firm with the CMRL, calling the controversy “politically motivated”. The ruling party turned the table on Kuzhalnadan when the state government later said Veena’s firm had paid IGST for the deal with the CMRL. In the Congress camp, only Satheesan was found backing Kuzhalnadan on the matter.
Another UDF section, including even senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, maintained silence over the Veena row as their names also purportedly figured in the I-T department’s report pertaining to alleged illegal payoff by the CMRL. The IUML also did not target Vijayan’s daughter over the controversy.
Last month when the ED arrested a local CPI(M) leader P R Aravindakshan in connection with the multi-crore Karuvannur co-operative bank scandal, the Congress again went on offensive against the CPI(M), which controls a major chunk of co-operative institutions in the state. The Congress’s Thrissur leader and ex-legislator Anil Akkara led the charge against the Left, claiming to expose all such scandals in the co-operative sector.
However, the Congress soon found itself on a sticky wicket after some cases of financial frauds in co-operative bodies allegedly involving its own leaders surfaced. The CPI(M) raked up the alleged involvement of Congress leader and ex-minister V S Sivakumar in the misappropriation of deposits at a cooperative society in Thiruvananthapuram. Last week, police registered a cheating case against Sivakumar based on a depositor’s complaint.
That apart, the ED action at Karuvannur bringing a few CPI(M) state leaders under its scanner helped the party to develop a narrative that the central agency has become a “weapon” in the hands of the BJP for its alleged bid to “wreck” the state’s vibrant co-operative sector.
This Left refrain forced the IUML, which also faced allegations related to co-operative banks controlled by it, to come out against the ED’s action. Senior IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty said, “We cannot reconcile with corruption, but everybody has a stake in the co-operative sector. There is an opinion that the ED action would adversely affect the state’s cooperative sector,’’ distancing from the Congress agitation.
After the IUML expressed its reservation against the central agency’s crackdown, the Congress developed cold feet even as its several leaders associated with the co-operative sector joined hands with the CPI(M) in the campaign “to protect the state’s co-operative movement’’.
Last month, when a CBI report gave a clean chit to late chief minister and Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy in the sexual allegation case related to the 2013 solar scam, which pointed to an alleged CPI(M) conspiracy, the grand old party smelt an opportunity to open another front against the Vijayan dispensation. But, the Congress could not latch on to the issue as it was divided over its next course of action. While Satheesan wanted a CBI probe into this “conspiracy” against Chandy, the Congress did not press for it fearing its repercussions for the faction-ridden unit.
