ED comes out with revelations linking Vijayan’s office to gold smuggling accused.
New Delhi: Covid-19 has come as a saving grace at the most appropriate time for Pinarayi Vijayan, the beleaguered Marxist Chief Minister of Kerala. On Friday, the Chief Minister, along with a couple of his Cabinet colleagues, went on self-quarantine, preferably for a week or ten days. The CM’s office said health experts had advised Vijayan to isolate himself after several senior officers who led the rescue operations at the site of the air crash last week in Karippur, Kozhikode had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Vijayan had visited the disaster site along with three ministers and the State Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. While Vijayan would work from home, the Governor, who has limited public engagements, will be confined to his official residence. Ironically on Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), one of the agencies that is investigating the gold smuggling racket relating to the UAE Consulate in state capital Thiruvananthapuram and allegedly involving the erstwhile Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, has told the chief judicial magistrate court (economic offences), Ernakulam, that Swapna Suresh, one of the key accused in the case, had “considerable influence in the office of the chief minister”.
This is a most damaging accusation for the ruling dispensation which has been trying its best to keep as much distance as possible from the case. The ruling CPM machinery has been working round the clock in establishing the ‘innocence” of the CM’s Office in the whole episode. The Chief Minister himself had gone on record saying he had no knowledge as to what his Principal Secretary was up to, a claim many find it difficult to swallow given Siv Shankr’s known closeness to Vijayan. That the officer has been dropped like a hot potato—some say the proverbial sacrificial goat—in the light of the case is another matter altogether. Significantly, the ED in its affidavit also claimed that Siv Shankar was “fully aware” of Swapna’s underhand dealings. “This is leading to a situation for further questioning of Siv Shankar. It has been revealed that when the state machinery was in UAE from 17 to 21 of October, 2018, seeking assistance of the Indians there for flood relief, she (Swapna Suresh) had meetings with the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. It is revealed that she had considerable influence in the office of the Chief Minister,” the affidavit further said. It is in the light of this that the ED wants to further interrogate Siv Shankar. In the past CPM leadership and Vijayan himself was in denial about the presence of Swapna Suresh during the time of his (ED has underlined the presence of State machinery) visit to the UAE. “A very unlikely coincidence” was the favourite comment from the ruling circles when all it needed was just five minutes to cross-check with the state intelligence department to confirm or deny the news. It has been further confirmed that the Chief Minister along with his Principal Secretary was indeed in the UAE capital during the said dates.
Earlier this month, the NIA too had given details describing Swapna’s acquaintance, closeness and influence with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan , the Chief Minister’s office and his former principal secretary Siv Shankar. Early this week, the Chief Minister had lost his cool when newspersons pointedly asked about this aspect of the case alleging that the media was in “collusion” with vested interests and the opposition to “discredit his government”. He had further agitatedly stated that “those who dream of my exit will be disappointed” as he had no intentions to resign owning moral responsibility for his Principal Secretary’s involvement in the case. Following his outburst, three journalists belonging to two vernacular TV channels—Manorama News and Asianet News—were singled out by CPM cyber warriors, forcing the journalists to file police complaints. Interestingly, the very same CPM leadership had time and again condemned cyber attacks on journalists elsewhere in the country, most of the time attributing it to the growing “fascist tendencies” of intolerance perpetuated by the ruling BJP in the country.
This claim lay tattered in the state with many critics, mostly erstwhile Left co-travellers, warning about the dangers of growing authoritarianism and one-man rule in the state. However a day later, a much sobered Chief Minister tried to patch-up saying his comments were “not personal” and was merely pointing out that some issues were raised “as per the political interests of certain people”. Still, he refused to acknowledge cyber attacks by CPM supporters on journalists. “It has not come to my notice. Let me see, check the comments,” he said while the whole state was talking about the indecent comments and threats posted by his own men against three journalists. On whether it was right on the part of his press secretary, who is on government payrolls, to comment on journalists’ behaviour, the Chief Minister said “I can comment on it only after checking the nature of his comments…let me check.” In fact, more insults were to follow. The very next day at his usual evening press briefing on the virus, while keeping silent on his press secretary’s comments, the Chief Minister spent sixteen minutes on a single question explaining at length how the Opposition had in the past let loose cyber attacks on him, his party and journalists. He in fact opened the monologue by saying that the people of the state were not interested in attacks on journalists and, instead, were more worried about the virus and the impending floods. It is also interesting to note that in Pinarayi Vijayan’s stand-off with journalists, none of the senior leaders from the CPM have come out with any statement in support of their Chief Minister. Though it has provided much speculation on Pinarayi’s diminishing grip on the party apparatus, those in the know say it is too early to read much into it.