Charges against Kerala CM's daughter politically motivated: State minister M B Rajesh

Madurai: Terming the charges against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena in an alleged illegal payment scandal "politically motivated", Kerala minister M B Rajesh on Saturday said it is not the first time that central agencies are being used for "targeting" the LDF government.

Veena has reportedly been named in a chargesheet by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) as an accused in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. (CMRL) financial fraud case.

Asked about the allegations, Rajesh told PTI, "It is politically motivated."

"This is not happening for the first time. Since the LDF government came to power in 2016, the BJP-led government has unleashed all investigative agencies. Whether it is CBI, Enforcement Directorate, or NIA, all agencies were sent to Kerala. And there were many headlines in newspapers and television channels in our first term between 2012 and 2016," he said.

"You may remember that gold smuggling scam. But what happened to all those controversies? All those were politically motivated controversies. So now, this is the second episode of that orchestrated campaign and conspiracy against the LDF government, especially targeting the chief minister of Kerala," he added.

On July 5, 2020, 30 kg of 24-carat gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was seized by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at the Thiruvananthapuram airport from a diplomatic bag.

M Sivasankar, the then principal secretary to Vijayan, was suspended and removed from the post after a preliminary inquiry confirmed that he had links with one of the accused, Swapna Suresh.

Rajesh further said that the allegations against Veena have surfaced at a time when the CPI(M) party congress is going on.

"This is going to be an election year as far as Kerala is concerned. So, this is a planned and politically motivated move," he claimed.

All of this, however, will not have any impact in Kerala, the minister said.

"People have realised that the BJP is misusing investigative agencies for its political purposes. Recently, the Enforcement Directorate closed a case involving the former state president of the BJP... (about a) hawala deal," he said, referring to the 2021 Kodakara money laundering case.

"Crores of rupees were stolen. This money was brought to Kerala for their election campaign... And all details including call data records of calls exchanged between the BJP chief and those involved in this case, those who were arrested, were there. But the ED turned a blind eye and closed the case," he charged.

The ED has given a clean chit to the BJP in the Kodakara case, connected to an April 3, 2021, highway robbery in Kodakara, Thrissur, just three days before the Kerala Assembly elections.

Earlier, police investigations found that Rs 3.5 crore, allegedly being transported to Ernakulam to fund the party's poll campaign, was looted after a gang staged an accident near Kodakara to intercept the vehicle.