A. Vijayaraghavan, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has asked BJP State president K. Surendran to come out with the source of his information that Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan and other Ministers had helped the accused in the gold smuggling case.
At a meet-the-leader programme organised by the Calicut Press Club here on Tuesday, Mr. Vijayaraghavan wondered how Mr. Surendran secured the details of the statement of an accused given to an investigation agency. “The BJP president has to provide the source of information on an ongoing probe. His statement was a deliberate attempt to malign the Speaker when the State went on polls,” he said.
Mr. Vijayaraghavan said that Central agencies were being employed for political gains and that the statements of the accused were also used for political purposes.
The agencies were fulfilling the political requirements of the Centre, the CPI(M) leader alleged.
He said that the Central agencies probing the gold smuggling case from July were yet to bring to light the source of the consignment and its beneficiaries. “Perhaps, they may have their own objectives but the allegations based on the purported statements of the accused would not affect the party,” Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.
Replying to a question, he said that it was up to the Speaker to respond to the allegations and initiate any legal procedures against the BJP president. He said the United Democratic Front (UDF) had been reduced to two parties of the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League. That was why the combine had forged an alliance with the Jamaat Islami Hind-backed Welfare Party of India, which had extremist views.
He said that both the Congress and the parties were facing a serious political crisis. The disintegration of the Congress would take place after the three-tier local body polls, he said.
