Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership should be genuinely worried about the outcome of the impending probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the misuse of diplomatic channels to smuggle gold into the country through Kerala.
Mr. Vijayan on Friday suggested, rather ominously, that the oncoming NIA investigation could lead to the doorstep of some in the UDF leadership. He attempted to shrug off insinuations by the Opposition that his office had some dubious role in the economic offence.
The Centre had ordered the NIA inquiry at the behest of the State government. The administration had no guilt to hide or cause to worry. "Those who consumed salt should drink water," Mr. Vijayan said.
The government would consider passing a law that would empower law enforcement to prosecute economic offences with national security implications. Mr. Vijayan attempted to turn the tables on the UDF, which had been on the warpath against his office for its alleged link to gold smugglers.
The Chief Minister said the UDF, for reasons best known to its leaders, wanted to dodge an NIA probe at all costs. Hard-pressed for a fig leaf to hide its liability, the UDF had attempted to lay down a smokescreen of lies against the government. It had orchestrated a violent street campaign under the pretext of seeking a CBI probe against the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
In the haste to falsely portray the CMO as a hive of conspiracy and crime, the UDF had thrown caution to the wind. Its leaders had callously endangered the lives of their cadres and police officers.
They had set a bad example to the public by glad handling supporters, encouraging gatherings, breaching physical distancing strictures and refusing to wear masks. Most of the UDF leaders were aged and should have been in reverse quarantine in their homes.
The public protests orchestrated by the UDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could cause a troubling spike in COVID-19 infections. The unprotected activists who risked themselves in the open could become superspreaders.
Mr. Vijayan said the parties had conspired to cause turmoil when the State was wrestling with a dreaded scourge. The pandemic had disrupted life, collapsed the economy and put people in acute distress.
A Congress activist at Poonthura, an epidemic hotspot in the capital, had launched a social media campaign to stir up resistance against testing. The UDF had attempted to squander the gains Kerala had made in keeping the disease at manageable levels. It had attempted to recklessly promote a partisan political agenda in the time of national adversity, he said.
