Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi | CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Wednesday alleged that the ED raids at the residences of former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and others were "politically motivated" and termed them as a "heinous attack".
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Baby said the CPI(M) will prove before the people that the raids were "politically motivated".
Citing reports, he claimed that two ministers in the cabinet of current Chief Minister V D Satheesan also allegedly received money from the Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and the same should have been investigated.
"That was the first thing which should have been investigated," he contended.
He said such moves will not intimidate the CPI(M) or Vijayan and "anyone who thought it would, did not know the party or its leader very well".
Recalling Vijayan's past experience as a Communist leader, CPI(M) leader Baby said that the former Kerala CM was arrested and faced brutal police assault when he was a young MLA during the emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.
"There have been many such bad experiences as far as he (Vijayan) and CPI(M) are concerned. The Congress government tried to target us by accusing us of being foreign spies.
"Now, the neo-fascist government under Narendra Modi is trying to eliminate (opposition) political parties through intimidation," he alleged, referring to the action taken against AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.
Baby also contended that prominent leaders of the Congress and the UDF had been publicly questioning why no action was being taken against Vijayan by central agencies.
"I don't know if they are satisfied now, following these raids," he added.
The CPI(M) general secretary also claimed that the allegations against Vijayan's daughter Veena were "fabricated".
In a post on X, Baby raised questions over the political context of the raid.
"Is the Congress-led UDF in Kerala complicit in this raid?" he asked, suggesting that the episode warranted scrutiny over possible political coordination.
In his reaction, Senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan alleged that the ED raids at the residence of Vijayan and others were part of a "joint Congress-BJP operation" and their "grand design".
Speaking to reporters outside Vijayan's home in Kannur, he said the searches followed the meeting between Kerala CM V D Satheesan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Menon Satheesan and Modi had a meeting. Right after that, raids were carried out at the permanent and rented homes of Vijayan and the house of his son-in-law P A Mohamed Riyas." "This is all part of a clear planning, a grand design. I believe the people will see it for what it truly is," he added.
As the ED raids continued, CPI(M) leader Muhammad Riyas said his party would not "bow before the Sangh Parivar".
In a Facebook post, Riyas, who is also Veena's husband and a CPI(M) state secretariat member, said, "You may surround and attack us however you want. But we will not bow before the Sangh Parivar. We will continue fighting until our final breath." CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told reporters in Thiruvananathapuram that the case against Vijayan was "deliberately fabricated" and asserted that there was no evidence against either the former chief minister or anyone associated with him.
"What is happening against Pinarayi Vijayan now is a politically motivated attack and an exercise in imagination," he said.
According to him, even the Delhi High Court had earlier "thrown the allegations into the dustbin" by observing that there was no substance in them.
There was not even an FIR in the matter, and the Kerala High Court had only permitted further probe into the allegations.
The CPI(M) leader said the raids were the latest example of attempts to politically attack the party in Kerala through investigations against Vijayan.
Defending Veena Vijayan, the Left leader said the payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to her company were towards services rendered by the firm and not illegal transactions.
A total of 10 premises in Kerala, including the rental house of the 81-year-old former CM in the state capital here, a location in Kannur and houses of key persons of CMRL, a private entity, are being raided by ED as part of its investigation against his daughter, Veena, in the CMRL money laundering case.
The action was taken a day after the Kerala High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by CMRL seeking to quash the ED proceedings in the case, thereby allowing the central agency to continue its probe.
As per the ED's case, registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2024, CMRL made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena's company, Exalogic Solutions, during 2017 to 2020, even though the IT firm had not provided any service to the company.
The ED probe stems from a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an investigative arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
The SFIO followed after the interim board for settlement of the Income Tax Department questioned the legitimacy of certain transactions undertaken by CMRL with Veena's now-defunct firm.
Baby claimed that the raids were carried out despite Veena cooperating with the SFIO and ED probes.
