Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lost his cool in the state Assembly on Thursday as the Opposition launched a personal attack against him in connection with the gold smuggling case.
"Despite many stories being planted, the central investigation agencies could not implicate anyone in the government. This is because we are from a different genus who are not greedy about money. When I say that my hands are clean, I mean it. I can boldly say so anywhere. A section wanted to implicate me in the gold smuggling case. But such desires won't work. Earlier attempts were made to implicate me in the SNC Lavalin corruption case, which was also part of a political ploy," Vijayan said.
Vijayan was seen agitated after Congress leader P T Thomas's launched a personal attack charging that there was a link between the chief minister's family and gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh.
Taking a dig at the Congress over the infights in the party, Vijayan said that Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala may not be able to control Thomas as he was from a rival group in the Congress.
Vijayan countered the allegations involving his former principal secretary M Sivasankar's nexus with Swapna saying that the jailed bureaucrat was given key postings during the Congress-led UDF regime.
The Opposition later staged a walkout from the Assembly after the Speaker denied permission for the adjournment motion.
Published 14 January 2021, 16:26 IST