The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Wednesday sharpened its attack against the Congress, accusing the ruling party in Kerala of playing second fiddle to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “fondness” for using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to target Opposition figures and strong-arm political adversaries into switching allegiances.

Senior CPI(M) leaders alleged that the ED’s “illegal detention” of Opposition Leader and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the probe into his daughter T. Veena’s now-defunct firm Exalogic Solutions and its consultancy contract with Cochin Minerals and Rutiles Limited (CMRL) had “clearly exposed” what they described as a “Congress-BJP nexus.”

The CPI(M) argued that the ED had failed to establish a case against two United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders whose names allegedly appeared in CMRL’s list of payees. The party also pointed out that Mr. Vijayan had categorically denied claims that the initials “PV” in the company’s account records referred to him, an allegation raised by the Congress.

However, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that he had earlier made a clean breast of having accepted funds from CMRL during his tenure as KPCC president. However, he demurred when asked whether the “second UDF leader” referred to by the CPI(M) was Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty.

The CPI(M) alleged that the Congress had “sold the people of Kerala a lie” by alleging a CPI(M)-BJP nexus. It accused the Congress of aiding the BJP’s victory in three Assembly constituencies and cross-voting in significant numbers to defeat the CPI(M) across the State. 

CPI(M) State committee member M.B. Rajesh alleged that the Congress had “violated the founding spirit” of the anti-BJP INDIA bloc concord at the national level by filing a false complaint, which resulted in the wrongful incarceration of the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He noted that the Delhi High Court later threw out the “trumped-up” charges of corruption. 

Mr Rajesh alleged that Rahul Gandhi had revealed the Congress-BJP gambit to target the CPI(M) by lamenting about the “ED’s delay in jailing Mr Vijayan and his family” while campaigning in Kerala during the Assembly elections.

Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal told reporters that “the ED has no case or FIR to detain Mr Vijayan in his house under the pretext of a raid. The unwarranted search is predicated on the BJP-Congress axis’ political resolve to target the CPI(M)’s tallest leader.”