Slugfest in Kerala House over CM Vijayan’s role

The Opposition UDF used the discussion on the notice for an adjournment motion in the state assembly about the gold smuggling-havala scandals to launch a personalised attack against Pinarayi Vijayan, which provoked the chief minister to lose his cool.

What provoked Vijayan so much was the comparison of him by P T Thomas, the mover of the adjournment motion, as Dhritarashtra who was done in by the love of his son. Thomas alleged that the chief minister was destroying the state for the sake of his daughter, whose name has often been dragged into the scandals rocking the communist govt.

The personal attack prompted a no-holds-barred counter-attack, asserting that he was made of different material that the opposition has no idea about.

The opposition speakers claimed that M Sivasankar, his former principal secretary, had told the investigators that Vijayan was such a simpleton that he would sign on a tissue paper if presented to him by the officials. They said the chief minister’s office had become the hub for anti-national activities as he was turning a blind eye to the goings-on in his office.

Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala made another sensational claim that the ruling CPM has made a neat killing of Rs 100 crore from the state government’s latest decision to increase the price of liquor. This government has raised the price by 14 per cent in two instalments and the decision was made at AKG Bhavan, the party headquarters, Chennithala added.