Discontentment with Pinarayi evident in CPI-M, former Minister speaks tough

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If the statement of CPI-M veteran E.P. Jayarajan on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was a surprise to his party top brass, the party’s most popular face and former Minister of Cooperation G. Sudhakaran that has come as a shocker.

Known for his razor-sharp tongue, Sudhakaran echoed the feelings of Jayarajan in a freewheeling interview with a leading TV channel here. He said ED has the right to do their job and there is nothing wrong with it.

His statement is in stark contradiction to what Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and those close to him have done in slamming the ED on its ongoing probe into the Cooperative bank scam that has surfaced at Trissur.

Matters took a turn for the worse for the party when last month, ED arrived at the residence of CPI-M legislator and former Cooperation Minister A.C. Moideen. Later he appeared before ED at their Kochi office and when he was asked to appear again, he failed to do so.

Apart from that, another top CPI-M leader and former legislator M.K. Kannan also appeared before the ED on two occasions, and in the second outing, according to ED officials, he expressed that he was not feeling well and it ended quickly.

Incidentally, an hour before Kannan presented himself before ED, he had a meeting with Vijayan, and that raised eyebrows. “The ED is doing their job and there is nothing wrong in it and one cannot prevent it either.

Kannan has to convince ED and there is no point skulking,” said Sudhakaran. Sudhakaran a two-time former Minister and a former legislator for several years went on to point out that a probe by the party into the Trissur Cooperative bank scam failed to admonish the wrongdoers.

“The party should not show any leniency if any party member has done a wrong, irrespective of his stature in the party. The need of the hour is that the assets of the wrongdoers should be confiscated,” added Sudhakaran.

Incidentally, Sudhakaran baring his mind is probably the first strong statement against Vijayan who is just not the last word in the state government but also in his party, and it remains to be seen which way the ED probe will go and if they take strict action.

Then for the first time in the past nearly eight years, the position of Vijayan will be on sticky ground in the party,