A bizarre charge levelled by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) against the ruling Congress government in Kerala following a raid by a central investigative agency on former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the initial silence of Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, and his forceful riposte a few days later together marked the unusual first fortnight of the United Democratic Front’s return to power after a decade.
The sequence of events began on May 27, a day after Satheesan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED)—a Central investigative agency that has often been accused of targeting opposition leaders—conducted raids at premises linked to Vijayan.
The raids of May 27, in 12 locations associated with Vijayan and his family, related to a money laundering probe into a private mining company: Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL). Vijayan was not the target of the raid, nor was he questioned. His son-in-law Mohamed Riyaz and his daughter T. Veena were the targets.
CPI(M) leader and former State Finance Minister, Thomas Isaac, noted on May 27: “The BJP knows that it has no political space in Kerala unless the CPI(M) is undermined. That is the politics behind the ED raid, with connivance of Congress. It has galvanised the entire CPI(M) into protest action, overcoming the trauma of the electoral setback.”
The operative phrase was “connivance of the Congress”. It was a curious charge. The Congress remains the BJP’s principal national rival, and Central investigative agencies such as the ED, which function under the Union government, have repeatedly been accused by the Congress and other opposition parties of being used to target political opponents. The suggestion that the Congress had a hand in an ED action against a CPI(M) leader therefore, raised eyebrows. The intrigue was heightened by Satheesan’s initial silence on the matter.
Even the CPI(M) general secretary, M.A. Baby, took this line on May 27 as he posted on X: “The CPI(M) denounces the ED raid on Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan. This is a targeted attack on a top opposition leader by the BJP government. Such actions will not intimidate Pinarayi Vijayan or the CPI(M). Is the UDF government complicit in this raid?” he asked.
Satheesan eventually responded on May 29. Addressing a press conference, he said, “I can respond only after studying the matter. This is a case registered by a Central agency. The State government has no role in it,” he said, adding that the Kerala Police had no prior information about the raid. Rejecting the allegation of political collusion, he asked: “Did Rahul Gandhi send people for the raid? If it is a politically motivated case against a member of Vijayan’s family, he has the right to protest politically. Can the government interfere when an investigation permitted by the court is taking place?”
Former Congress Minister KC Joseph, too, wondered why the Congress was being dragged into the issue. “If you are alleging that the UDF government influenced the ED, is it not a tacit admission that the Pinarayi government had influenced the ED to avoid such raids all these years?” he asked.
Satheesan’s response to that came a day later. Addressing a press conference, he effectively blunted the opposition’s charge, forcing the LDF to shift its focus elsewhere. Resorting to sharp sarcasm, he mocked the allegation that the Congress government had orchestrated the ED action. “When I met the Prime Minister, I requested him to raid the former Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan,” Satheesan said, even as the media waited in stunned silence to figure out where he was going with this line. “Then the Prime Minister told me, since this is Satheesan’s first request as Chief Minister, I should fulfil it; and he immediately called up those in charge and ordered a raid,” he continued, drawing laughter from the assembled journalists.
He did not stop there: “I told the Prime Minister, “do not raid one or two places; raid 12”. Hence they raided 12.”
Asking whether anyone would believe in stories like these, Satheesan requested the opposition not to waste the public’s time by levelling patently false allegations.
If the opposition’s charge of Congress's complicity failed to gain traction, another aspect of the episode proved more damaging. As ED officials began conducting searches, a huge crowd of CPI (M) supporters gathered near Vijayan’s house and started attacking officials and their vehicles. At least one vehicle belonging to the ED was completely destroyed by the protestors.
As soon as the information of the raids reached the State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, he instructed the Kerala Police to reach the spot and protect the ED officials. Soon after, the Thiruvananthapuram City police arrested 18 CPI(M) workers allegedly involved in the attack.
On May 31, the High Court, noting the seriousness of the issue, rejected the bail applications of those arrested. With non-bailable offences having been invoked, those arrested—many of them affiliated with the Students Federation of India (SFI)—could face a prolonged legal battle.
But such political raids have remained a defining feature of Indian politics from 2014. CPI leader Binoy Viswam questioned the raids as the name of the former Chief Minister did not figure in the documents. “Vijayan is in no way a part of the case. But why did the ED come to his house early in the morning?” he asked. The LDF believes that this is because the BJP wanted to spread a story in the country to malign the image of the Left. Two Congress leaders that this correspondent spoke to concurred with this opinion.
Viswam, while noting that this was not new for the BJP, added: “This politics will not work in Kerala.”
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