Thiruvananthapuram | Two senior CPI(M) leaders, A K Balan and P Rajeev, on Friday strongly defended Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is under attack from the opposition Congress over the alleged corruption in the installation of AI cameras in the State as part of his government's recently launched "Safe Kerala" project.
The Congress, however, hit back at the ruling party and said a comprehensive probe is needed to bring out the truth over the grave corruption charges that have cropped up against the project and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter.
Senior CPI(M) leader and former Minister A K Balan said the Chief Minister was not reacting to the allegations against him as a vigilance probe and an administrative-level inquiry are already underway into the issue.
Similar controversies had cropped up before as well against the Chief Minister and his family members, but nothing could be proved so far, he told reporters here.
The Chief Minister had received a complaint regarding the camera project in 2020 and it had been forwarded to the Vigilance Department then itself, the leader, also a Central committee member of the CPI(M), claimed.
"How can the Chief Minister give a reply to all these charges when the Vigilance Department under him carries out an investigation in the matter?" Balan asked.
It was not right to react to the allegations when his own department is carrying out a probe, he said, defending the Chief Minister for his continuing silence on the matter.
However, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who had first raised corruption charges against the project, rejected Balan's claim that a vigilance probe is underway in the AI camera project.
"Balan said that a vigilance probe is going on. What vigilance probe? The said probe is based on a complaint by someone against a retired government official who was a former transport commissioner," he told a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club here.
Apart from this, no probe is going on against anything related to the AI cameras.
"Otherwise, would the Chief Minister, who is in charge of the Vigilance, have inaugurated a project that is facing a probe?" the former Home Minister asked.
He further charged that the controversial Kerala-based private company which has been facing charges in the camera deal has close connections with Vijayan and the ruling CPI(M).
Stating that a comprehensive probe is needed to bring out the truth about the grave corruption charges levelled against the project, he demanded a judicial inquiry into the issue.
Industries Minister P Rajeev, however, refuted the opposition charges and accused them of creating a smokescreen among people. "The government has no reluctance to face any probe," he told reporters here.
A Central committee member of CPI(M), Rajeev, claimed that there was no evidence to prove the allegations that a close relative of the Chief Minister has connections with the Kerala-based private company that is facing charges in the camera project.
The Minister also rejected the complaints raised by the opposition regarding the awarding of sub-contracts for the project worth crores of rupees to various companies. He said the data security and other such matters are handled by state-run Keltron only.
The Congress has been raising corruption charges against the 'Safe Kerala' project, which included installation of the AI cameras, envisaged to reduce road accidents and traffic violations in the State, since it's inauguration in April.
