Congress MLA challenges Kerala CM to disprove allegations against daughter

Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan challenged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to disprove the allegations made against his daughter in connection with the UAE consulate smuggling case.

He said this association was taken off from the website in May 2020 after the UAE consulate-based smuggling scandal broke out. Key accused in the case Swapana Suresh was appointed to an agency under the state IT department through PWC, which was a consultant in several state government projects, Kuzhalnadan alleged.

The Congress legislator raised these allegations on Tuesday during discussions in the Assembly on an adjournment motion notice. Kuzhalnadan had alleged in the Assembly that a director of the consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Jaik Balakumar, was mentioned on the company website of Exalogic Solutions as the mentor of its founders, one of which is Chief Minister's daughter Veena Vijayan.

In his reply, the Chief Minister termed the allegations “blatant lies” and slammed the Congress for raising baseless allegations against political opponents’ family members. Pinarayi even rudely shot back whether it was “Congress's culture”.

However, on Wednesday, Kuzhalnadan presented digital evidence of the PWC director being mentioned on the website of Exalogic Solutions. Kuzhalnadan then challenged the Chief Minister to initiate legal action if it was false.

While the Chief Minister was yet to react to it, state public works minister Mohammed Riyas, and Pinarayi’s son-in-law, called it “old wine in a new bottle”.

PWC is yet to comment on the matter.