Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of having “no credibility.” There has been a long-standing cold war between the two, but there has been a lull in hostilities between the two men of late. However, with the governor stating that CM Vijayan has “no credibility”, the two men will be in a fresh state of attrition.
The fresh trouble began over the issue of gold smuggling in the state that was first brought out by Left Independent Legislator PV Anvar last month. He accused then ADGP, Law and Order MR Ajith Kumar, along with P Sasi, the Political Secretary to Vijayan of being the main actors responsible for the racket.
Then came an interview of CM Vijayan in a leading national daily in which he allegedly said that Malappuram district was the hub of gold smuggling and that the money was being used for ‘anti-state’ and ‘anti-national’ activities. As the interview stirred controversy, Vijayan’s office wrote to the editor of the national daily, where it was stated that the CM never mentioned any particular place or region and used the words “anti-state or anti-national.”
The national daily, in a rejoinder, said that there was a PR agency who fixed the appointment, and there were two people and one of them later had asked them to include this also in the interview. “I wish to ask the CM why he did not inform me about the gold smuggling issue, especially since he said the money from it is being used for anti-national activities. He is duty-bound to inform me about this. Even any administrative issue must be conveyed, but this is a grave thing, and he did not do so,” said Khan. Rebutting Vijayan’s statement that it’s the duty of the Customs and the Central government, Khan asked if that be the case then why did the CM not inform him.
“The CM says he has no PR agency. Then how come he did not issue a rebuttal to the daily’s statement, which said they were contacted by a PR agency to interview the CM? During the interview, two PR agency officials were present. He has no credibility and he uses this for political purposes,” added Khan.
Khan further said that he would now inform the President of what’s happening in Kerala, as he is duty-bound to bring to her attention the anti-national activities taking place in the state.
–IANS
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