Kerala gold smuggling case: Pinarayi-Shah lock horns ahead of the assembly elections

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s latest trip to Communist-ruled Kerala has riled up chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was challenged by Shah to answer some tough questions relating to the Kerala gold smuggling case, Sabarimala issue and political violence in the state. Unable to put up a solid defence on any of the said fronts, Vijayan took to putting out his own set of counter-questions for Amit Shah. However, the silliness of the move has neither been given a miss by the people of India, and most definitely, nor by the nationalists of Kerala.

During his address, while concluding the ‘Vijaya Yatra’ in Thiruvananthapuram, Shah posed some tough questions in response to CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s tirade claiming the union government was trying to use central agencies against political opponents. The Union Home Minister asked, “Did prime accused Swapna Suresh frequently visit your (Chief Minister’s) office? Did your office put pressure on customs to not check for smuggling of gold? Did Swapna Suresh receive salary worth Rs 3 lakhs per month through state agencies?”. Pinarayi Vijayan’s name surfaced after the prime accused said that the Kerala CM was aware of the Kerala gold smuggling case

Amit Shah further probed, “Did your main secretary give a fake certificate and an important post to the woman under a government programme, yes or no? Was this accused woman taken by you or your officials on foreign trips, yes or no? Did this accused woman visit your official residence? People want to know did she visit or not? When illegal gold was found at the airport, did your office put pressure on customs, yes or no? ED (Enforcement Directorate) and customs officials have been attacked. Has this been probed in detail, yes or no? Has a probe been done regarding a suspicious death?”

Read more: “The instructions came from the CM himself”, Pinarayi Vijayan is now the main accused in the Kerala Gold Scam

Referring to Sabarimala, Amit Shah charged upon the Congress party, which kept quiet when Pinarayi’s police was beating up devotees who protested against the government’s move to forcibly allow entry of women to the hill shrine, declaring that the BJP’s stand on Sabarimala was that it should be under the control of the devotees.

In what barely qualifies as a substantial retort to the Union Home Minister, perhaps due to Pinarayi’s inability to cover his own tracks regarding the Kerala gold smuggling case, the Kerala CM said that cases of smuggling had become rampant at the Trivandrum Airport after the ‘BJP government’ took over it if that makes any sense. “Trivandrum Airport is in complete control of Central Government. How did Trivandrum Airport become a hub of gold smuggling after BJP came to power? Amit Shah should answer it. Not Kerala CM but Amit Shah has the responsibility to answer it,” Pinarayi said.

The investigation agencies should probe the gold smuggling case in a fair manner. If they are not doing it and if they think anyone can be threatened, it won't work here. This is Kerala: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kannur

— ANI (@ANI) March 8, 2021

Pinarayi Vijayan also thought it would be fit to drag the Sangh parivaar into the picture, and insinuated that the entire scandal was the doing of the Sangh. “Isn’t customs fully responsible to stop anti-national activities like smuggling of gold? Isn’t Thiruvananthapuram airport entirely under central government?” he added trying to distance himself with the Kerala Gold Smuggling case.

TFI has only recently reported how in a shocking revelation by Swapna Suresh, a prime suspect in the Kerala gold smuggling case, the names of the Chief Minister of Kerala and three other cabinet ministers have surfaced. She mentioned that the illegal activities were happening right under the CM’s nose through diplomatic channels. Suresh also mentioned the name of the speaker of the house, P Sreeramakrishnan claiming that he was well-aware of the ongoing gold smuggling.

In the backdrop of the startling revelations being made by the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, it is only natural for the Kerala chief minister to go berserk and blurt out just about any flimsy excuse