Reacting to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s criticism against him, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State secretary K.M. Shaji, MLA, has said the public contributed to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) not to reimburse the fees of lawyers appearing for his partymen facing trial in murder cases.
At a news conference organised at the house of IUML leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition M.K. Muneer here on Thursday, Mr. Shaji alleged that a sum of ₹2 crore had been paid to the counsel of the accused in the killings of Muslim Youth League worker Ariyil Abdul Shukoor in 2012 and Youth Congress worker S.P. Shuhaib in 2018.
He charged that Chief Minister had spent ₹8 lakh from the State Disaster Response Fund to travel in a private helicopter from a CPI(M) conference in Thrissur to Thiruvananthapuram two years ago. Later, the payment was routed through the government after the issue kicked up a controversy, Mr. Shaji, representing the Azhikode Assembly segment in Kannur, alleged.
Mr. Shaji said the public had every right to know the operation of the funds contributed to the CMRDF. If the high fees for the lawyers was not paid from the CMRDF, then the Chief Minister ought to clarify from where the funds had been sourced, he said.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister chastised Mr. Shaji for his Facebook post ridiculing him to donate to the CMDRF. Mr. Vijayan had also asked the IUML leadership to take note of the attitude of its legislator to create confusion in the minds of the common man when the State was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the news conference, Mr. Shaji said that Kerala was not formed after Mr. Vijayan “threw his hatchet,” in an apparent reference to the Hindu mythological belief that Kerala was formed after Lord Parashurama threw his mazhu (axe) across the sea northwards from Kanyakumari.
The money contributed to the CMDRF was not an offering to the ‘hundi’ (collection box) at places of worship. The Chief Minister should not show intolerance when questions were asked about the spending of public money, Mr. Shaji said.
The IUML leader said that nobody wanted to play politics at the time of the COVID-19 crisis. But the government should bear in mind that the country functioned on democratic norms and principles, he said.
