The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition will organise a State-wide protest on August 1 to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Friday said the probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the UAE consulate-related gold smuggling case had knocked at the door of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). His continuation at the helm of the government had become untenable.
UDF MLAs and MPs would stage day-long sit-ins at their homes or office. The protests will be broadcast on social media in real-time. The demonstrations are titled "Speak Up Kerala".
The agency had questioned Mr. Vijayan's "discredited" former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar for several hours on Thursday. The NIA had sought surveillance camera recordings of the comings and goings in the CMO.
The NIA had asked Mr. Sivasankar, who was Mr. Vijayan's closest "courtier and confidant" since 2016, to report for further questioning at its office in Kochi. The move did not portend well for Mr. Vijayan.
Mr. Chennithala claimed that Mr. Sivasankar was the power behind Mr. Vijayan's throne.
The officer began each file and initiated every order by stating "as desired by the Chief Minister," Mr. Chennithala said. Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Sivasankar operated in privileged isolation, far removed from the people, the Cabinet and the ruling coalition.
The duo had attempted to outsource governance to global consultancies and promoted backdoor appointees to prevail over the Secretariat staff.
Mr. Sivasankar had allowed a U.S.-based firm allied to the private health care sector to mine the personal medical information of Keralites under the pretext of helping the government combat the COVID-19.
The CMO allowed an IT startup with no experience to speak off to rake in huge profits from the retail of liquor by developing a faulty mobile phone application to purchase legal alcohol. The LDF partners had obliquely indicated their exasperation with Mr. Vijayan's authoritarian style of functioning. "Now is the time for them to speak out", he said.
