Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday accused a section of the Press of having conspired to tarnish him and his office recurrently.
They had attempted to tie the constitutional offices to the UAE consulate-linked gold smuggling case ‘maliciously’.
Mr. Vijayan took the time of his COVID-19 news briefing to excoriate some sections of the media for what he termed as politically-biased news coverage of the probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the international smuggling racket.
“Some persons had said they would commit suicide if a person of my background and politics occupied the seat of the Chief Minister of Kerala. Much to their dismay, the people of the State decided otherwise. They gave the politics I represent the mandate to rule. If the people withdraw the mandate, the government will cease to exist. Media intrigue to defame and derail the government will not pass muster with the public,’’ he said.
He said some journalists, at the behest of their handlers, ignored the fact that the NIA had praised the government in open court for requesting the Central agency to investigate the case.
The front-page headline of a newspaper said an accused woman in the case ‘knew’ the Chief Minister.
It deliberately ignored her lawyer’s statement that his client knew the Chief Minister as many other members of the public did. Some television channels did the same, scrolling headlines the controversial woman ‘knew’ the Chief Minister.
Mr. Vijayan said he was inured to media witch-hunts. He was not asking the Press any favour. “I am only urging you to uphold the truth. I am asking the Press whether it is ethical to malign the constitutional office of the Chief Minister without minimal fact-checking,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the NIA probe had disconcerted some quarters. “Their heartbeat has quickened as the investigation threatened to reach their doorstep. The government nor I have any guilt to hide,” he said.
