Kochi: Following the questioning of Veena Vijayan, daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, by the SFIO, the controversy over the monthly pay-off case is once again in the spotlight. Veena provided her statement before investigation officer Arun Prasad at the Chennai office last Wednesday. This action comes ten months after the case was filed.
The opposition has criticized the delay in taking Veena’s statement, stating that both the central and state governments are colluding. The opposition’s primary criticism remains that the same issue persists. Opposition leader VD Satheesan commented that the questioning by the investigation team is merely an election stunt. “Nothing has happened beyond normal procedures. What is occurring now is just an election stunt. Central agencies are not genuinely investigating against Pinarayi. The same situation occurred in the Karuvannur bank fraud case. One can see how delayed the charge sheet against BJP president K Surendran was. All of this is part of a larger conspiracy. The investigations in all previous cases have been a farce, and this will continue,” Satheesan charged.
Matthew Kuzhalnadan MLA expressed that he has little hope for the SFIO investigation, stating that if the central government were sincere, it would have initiated an ED investigation.
Meanwhile, State Secretary MV Govindan stated that the CPI(M) does not need to respond to the monthly pay-off issue. “The party does not need to respond to disputes or issues between companies. Attempts to drag the Chief Minister into the matter are political. We will effectively counter that,” Govindan said.
