Pathanamthitta (Kerala) | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday hit back at Congress leaders over allegations in the Sabarimala gold loss case, saying the prime accused had entered the hill shrine in 2004 when a current AICC leader was the Devaswom minister.
Speaking at the inaugural event of the LDF’s development rally in central Kerala, Vijayan, without naming the Congress leader, said the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, first entered the Sabarimala temple in 2004.
"Who was the Devaswom minister in 2004? It was a current top all-India leader of the Congress. A Devaswom Board appointed by the Congress, and its president—who may have since left the party—allowed Potty to enter and begin his operations in Sabarimala," Vijayan said without taking any names.
In 2004, the UDF was in power in Kerala, and K C Venugopal was the Devaswom Minister.
He said these were "uncomfortable facts" that the Congress and the UDF were "unwilling to discuss", alleging this was why they avoided a debate on the Sabarimala issue in the assembly.
The chief minister said an attempt was made to organise a parallel convention to the Global Ayyappa Summit organised by the Devaswom Board, but it failed.
"Realising the importance of the Global Ayyappa Summit, and in an attempt to tarnish it, Potty—who introduced himself as a sponsor in Sabarimala—came out with allegations. He claimed that a valuable peedam (pedestal) sponsored by him was missing from the temple," Vijayan said.
He alleged that these claims, aimed at undermining the Global Ayyappa Summit, were taken up by the Congress and the opposition.
However, he said the Devaswom Vigilance later found the peedam at the house of Potty’s sister.
"This shows that an unholy relationship existed between Potty and the Congress. The Congress was using Potty against the Global Ayyappa Summit," he alleged.
Vijayan said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was conducting an effective probe under the monitoring of the Kerala High Court.
"Does the Congress have faith in the High Court or not? The Leader of the Opposition, the BJP, and the Congress are together demanding a CBI probe. What is behind this?" he asked.
He alleged that the Congress had become the B-team of the BJP nationally, claiming that in elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, and Bihar, the Congress had created conditions favourable to the saffron party.
He also alleged that the recent union budget had neglected Kerala.
"The central government is acting with a sense of vengeance towards Kerala. That is why the state’s name is barely mentioned in the budget," he claimed, adding that while Kerala featured prominently in the Economic Survey for its performance, it was absent from the budget speech.
Referring to transport infrastructure, Vijayan said travel time in the state had remained almost unchanged for decades.
He said the state had proposed the semi-high-speed rail project, K-Rail, but objections from the Centre and the Railways were unexpected.
"When both the Congress and the BJP opposed K-Rail, the most unfortunate thing was that the Central government stood with them, forgetting Kerala’s development," he said.
Vijayan said technocrat E Sreedharan later proposed a high-speed rail project, claiming it would receive central approval.
"Our stand is clear—Kerala needs a high-speed rail project in any form. We even told the Centre that the Railways itself could implement it, but there was no response," he said.
He said Sreedharan’s proposal was forwarded to the Railway Minister through K V Thomas, but the ministry did not respond despite repeated communication.
"Now Sreedharan says he has received permission and has opened an office at Ponnani. But there has been no official communication to the state government," Vijayan said.
Taking a jibe at Sreedharan, the CM recalled that he had opened an MLA office in Palakkad even before the last assembly election results were declared and had announced he would become chief minister.
"Sreedharan has no difficulty in making announcements," he said, while adding that the state government and the CPI(M) continued to respect him as a technocrat.
Vijayan said there was still no positive signal from the central government on a high-speed rail project for Kerala.
"When questions were raised in Parliament, the Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) gave no clear answer. He welcomed Sreedharan’s opening of an office, but what use is an office without project approval?" he asked.
Vijayan said that if any such project were to be implemented, a consensus must be reached with the state government regarding its role.
