Congress and the UDF have called for the resignation of the chief minister.
New Delhi:
The CPI (M) alleged that the case of smuggling of gold in Kerala was used by the BJP and the Congress-led UDF to destabilize the LDF government in the state and that the question was used to target the Minister in chef Pinarayi Vijayan.
IAS officer M Sivasankar sacked from chief secretary to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was previously summoned by customs as part of the ongoing investigation into the smuggling of gold case where gold, weighing more than 30 kg and valued at around 15 crore Rs, had been seized.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was responsible for the investigation of the case by the Center.
“Kerala gold smuggling case is used by Congress-led UDF and BJP to tarnish image of LDF government and (is) a joint effort to destabilize government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, “said the latest edition. of the CPI (M) spokesperson for popular democracy published on Wednesday.
Congress and the UDF demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation and launched a “struggle” to achieve it. The BJP also conducts demonstrations with the same request. The UDF had announced that it would present a motion of censure against the government of the Assembly.
The editorial says that smuggling of gold to Kerala from the Gulf countries has been a regular phenomenon over the years and that there was a surge in smuggling of gold after the COVID-19 pandemic when flights resumed and there was an increase in charter flights to the state. .
A value of around 100 crores of Rs gold has been seized by customs authorities at three Kerala airports in the past six months, according to the editorial.
But contraband gold seeking to be smuggled through Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 30 was important for the method and size of the shipment – it was diplomatic baggage and weighed 30 kilograms, it said. -he declares.
“The state police are neither the investigating authority nor the power to file cases in such cases. They are the responsibility of the Customs Department, which is part of the Center. “The state can only have an ancillary role,” he added.
He said that as soon as the ramifications of the case were known, the chief minister wrote to the Prime Minister to request an effective investigation by one of the central agencies concerned so that the entire chain of the smuggling operation from its source and final beneficiaries can be discovered and brought to the reservation.
The case of gold smuggling is therefore used to make a total effort to target the chief minister and the LDF government. In doing so, Congress leadership even ignores the fact that one of the accused, Sandeep Nair, has ties to the BJP. He is more determined to seek to exploit the Modi government in his fight against the LDF government.
“Congress is well aware that the BJP government is abusing central agencies for political gain and hopes that they will also do so in this case,” he added.
The editorial also alleged that the Congress party was proving its political and ideological bankruptcy in Kerala by adopting a disruptive position on the issue.
He has no qualms about associating with the BJP to target the left. It is also a sad commentary on the state of the party as a whole, as the recent events in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan show.
“The BJP will do everything to destabilize the state governments of Congress using the power of money and other unscrupulous methods. But the Congress party, divided by factions and power-hungry leaders, facilitates the designs BJP. In Kerala, this kind of politics and power games will be met with a repugnant sting from the people, “he said.
