Chaos in Kerala Assembly as opposition and ruling front cross swords over LIFE Mission corruption case

Shouting match between ruling and opposition benches began after Congress legislator Mathew Kuzhalnadan alleged a grand design hatched at the level of the Chief Minister Office (CMO) in 2019 to profit from LIFE Mission to construct flats for the homeless.

Kerala Legislative Assembly | Photo Credit: S. GOPAKUMAR

Chaos erupted in the Kerala Legislative Assembly (KLA) on Tuesday when the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) benches vociferously resisted the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) opposition’s move to initiate an adjournment debate on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent arrest of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary, M. Sivasankar, on a LIFE Mission “corruption” related money laundering charge.

The shouting match prompted Speaker A. N. Shamsheer to suspend the proceedings once during Zero Hour. It also culminated in an opposition walkout over the Chair’s decision to disallow its Rule 50 motion.

Grand design

Congress legislator Mathew Kuzhalnadan, who piloted the opposition attack, provoked the ruling front benches by alleging that the “shady” LIFE Mission “deal” had the Chief Minister’s imprimatur.

Quoting extensively from the ED’s court filings, Mr. Kuzhalnadan alleged a grand design hatched at the level of the Chief Minister Office (CMO) in 2019 to profit from the UAE Red Crescent’s ₹20 crore largesse to LIFE Mission to construct flats for the homeless at Wadakkanchery in the Thrissur district.

Ruling front legislators rallied belligerently behind Mr. Vijayan. Law Minister P. Rajeeve demanded that Mr. Kuzhalnadan’s “defamatory lies” be deleted from Assembly records. A visibly angered Mr. Vijayan termed the accusations as “brazen lies.”

Minister cites Congress’s Raipur resolution

LSGI Minister M. B. Rajesh said the UDF’s motion was “old wine in an old bottle”. Voters rejected the opposition’s recriminatory campaign in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Moreover, the opposition’s motion ran against Congress’s Raipur resolution that accused the Centre of using enforcement agencies to intimidate political opponents and pursue “vendetta politics of the worst kind”.

Mr. Rajesh said ED’s raids since 2014 overwhelmingly targetted Congress leaders. The agency put several Congress veterans, including P. Chidambaram, in prison.

Mr. Rajesh said ED was BJP’s propaganda tool and lacked professional competency. “ED’s conviction rate is dismal. Only 23 of the 5000 odd cases charge-sheeted by ED have ended in conviction. Nevertheless, the ED’s word was gospel for Congress’s State leadership,” he said.

Opposition demands a CBI probe

Leader of Opposition, V. D. Satheesan, said Mr. Vijayan invited Central agencies to probe the UAE gold smuggling case.

Their investigations exposed the LIFE Mission corruption. Congress demanded a CBI probe, given the international ramifications of the offence.

The government inadvertently revealed its culpability in the LIFE Mission case by resisting the CBI probe in the court. It appeared to side with the suspects.

Mr. Vijayan was the chairperson of LIFE Mission. He could not evade vicarious responsibility for the crime, given the recent arrest of Mr. Sivasankar.