THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Left Democratic Front (LDF) deciding to strongly oppose the CBI inquiry launched into the State Government’s Life Mission project, the stage is set for a protracted politico-legal battle with the Centre.
The confrontationist ambience has been accentuated further by the State BJP’s decision to continue the agitation against the Pinarayi Vijayan Government.
That the coming days would witness a long battle over the propriety of launching a CBI probe into the matter merely on the basis of a complaint by a Congress MLA is clear from the statement made by LDF convenor A Vijayaraghavan. The Centre’s decision is politically motivated, he pointed out, adding that the CBI won’t be allowed to have a free run of the State.
The LDF is also angry over the fact that the inquiry has been ordered in blatant violation of the norms and guidelines governing the launch of a CBI probe in a State.
In the present case, the State Government has been bypassed and the Centre has acted in an unseemly hurry. LDF leaders say the arbitrary manner in which the probe has been ordered needs to be challenged both politically and legally.
The LDF has also accused the Congress of adopting double standards on CBI inquiries. While the party is strongly opposed to CBI probes in Congress-ruled states, in the case of Kerala, the party has taken the initiative for ensuring a CBI inquiry into the Life Mission project, alleging large-scale corruption.
LDF leaders also claim that the CBI has been brought into the picture because the investigation launched by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the gold smuggling case has run into a dead end. The NIA has also failed to question either Fazal Fareed who sent the consignment containing gold from Dubai or the officials of the UAE consulate in the Kerala Capital, who received it. BJP leaders under a cloud are being spared. And a few officers have been arbitrarily transferred to far-off places, creating doubts about the direction of the probe.
It is against this backdrop that the CBI has been brought in, allege LDF leaders, to pursue the BJP’s political agenda: to destabilize the LDF Government in the State. This cannot be allowed to go unchallenged, they say. Hence the decision of the LDF to oppose the CBI inquiry with all the force at their command.
The BJP’s decision to ramp up the agitation against the Kerala Government has not come as a surprise. BJP state chief had said earlier that the agitation would continue, but by strictly sticking to the covid protocol. How the party will do that remains to be seen. Its track record in the matter is anything but inspiring. The BJP believes in creating tension and extracting political capital therefrom. The BJP’s stand makes it clear that the party is bent upon preventing the return of a semblance of normalcy to the state which is locked in a grim battle to contain the spread of the dreaded corona virus. The party obviously thinks that the decision would fetch it rich political and electoral dividends. Its calculations could go terribly wrong. And the party may end up with egg on its face in the long run. (IPA Service)