Taking up the issue of gold smuggling allegedly through diplomatic channels detected in Kerala earlier this year, the BJP stepped up its attack against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government. The BJP on Friday asked Vijayan to take moral responsibility and resign.
Talking to reporters here at the BJP headquarters, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan said four federal investigating agencies are probing the gold smuggling and the violations of FCRA in the State. “The moral authority of the chief minister is lost. The BJP has been demanding, the people of Kerala have been demanding, that the chief minister should resign owning moral responsibility of the whole incident.”
He alleged that on the one hand the LDF government sought Centre’s assistance in probing the matter, and on the other, it approached the Kerala High Court against CBI probe into a related issue.
“This shows that those involved in the smuggling are hand-in-glove with those in power,” he alleged and accused that a Principal Secretary in Vijayan’s office is directly linked to the case. He said usually principal secretaries in Chief Ministers’ Offices do not hold responsibility of any other department, but Vijayan’s principal secretary was also the secretary of State Electronics and IT Department.
Claiming that “Vijayan has been changing his stand on the matter from the day the case was registered and accused were arrested,” Muraleedharan claimed that “evidence could be destroyed if he continues in power.”