Central agencies tarnishing Kerala's image, CM ijayan writes to PM Modi

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the central agencies that initiated a probe into gold smuggling case were now carrying out a fishing and roving inquiry to find chances for finding fault with the state government and were also selectively leaking out information to media.

Vijayan urged Modi to take corrective action and also expressed concerns that the central agencies may lose their credibility.

"Orchestrated campaigns to defame the political leadership of the Kerala government are being carried out seemingly with the cooperation of some officials of investigation agencies. Even after five months, the agencies were not able to unravel the source and utilisation of the gold smuggled through the diplomatic channel. Instead, the aim of the agencies seems to be tarnishing the image of the state government," Vijayan said in a four-page detailed letter.

He said in a federal set up the central agencies would have to follow the contours of the constitutional division of power and any transgression of the same by conducting roving enquiries and proceeding on fishing expeditions to review the state government's projects with the intention of fault-finding was not within the province of the central investigating agencies.

The CBI registering a case against the officials of Kerala government's flagship LIFE Mission programme that already provided housing to around 2.5 lakh families and the ED seeking details of various key projects of the state government had irked the Kerala government. The chief minister had even alleged earlier that the central agencies were acting as per the interest of the political bosses. The letter to the prime minister is a sequel to that.

Vijayan also said fishing and roving inquiries by central agencies into state government key development projects would hamper development activities and demotivate honest and hardworking officers.