Published 23:13 IST, November 13th 2020
BJP & Congress demand Kerala CM's resignation, ask him to follow Balakrishnan's suit
The Congress and the BJP took Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's resignation as an opportunity to hit out at Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan asking him to follow suit.
As Kerala CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan steps down from his post amid allegations against his son Bineesh in a money laundering case, the Congress and the BJP hit out at CM Pinarayi Vijayan saying that his resignation should have come 'much earlier', following the allegations surrounding the CMO in the gold smuggling case.
Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala said slammed Vijayan over the gold smuggling scam saying, "Now, the situation arises from the fact that there are issues within CPI(M) after the party and government are facing serious corruption charges including gold smuggling case. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, whose office was supporting gold smuggling accused should have resigned much earlier," he added.
BJP State President hits out
BJP state president K Surendran also took Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's resignation as an opportunity to hit out at Vijayan asking him to follow suit saying that his attempts to 'cling to power' were 'unethical' amid the allegations that surrounded the CMO's office. "It is unethical for the Chief Minister to cling to power despite being convinced that the probe into gold smuggling and related scams was against him. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan resigned after his son Bineesh Kodiyeri was caught in a drug and money laundering case," he said.
"It is a challenge to the Malayalees that the Chief Minister did not resign even though his Principal Secretary was in jail and the Additional Secretary was summoned by the ED for anti-national gold smuggling case. The ED's report is that the CM's team was in touch with gold smugglers is serious. The CPM central leadership should advise Pinarayi to resign before more evidence comes out," he added.
According to an affidavit filed by prime-accused Swapna Suresh in the gold smuggling scam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's former principal secretary M Sivasankar and his team in the CMO was fully aware of the gold smuggling and other electronic items smuggled through the diplomatic channel confessed that the CMO has played a big role in the crime.
(With Agency Inputs)
Updated 23:23 IST, November 13th 2020