Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan
He said media reports, based on partial information, had claimed that he had taken a bribe of ₹3.28 crore through his daughter while serving as chief minister.
As part of the effort, he said, ED had at one point searched the house where he resides but found nothing incriminating. Vijayan said that in this context, ED’s latest disclosures came as statements made by those he alleged were controlling the agency, calling them “ridiculous. He said his daughter Veena, after completing her studies, had first worked at the IT company Oracle before starting her own company, which he said had provided services to several firms, including CMRL. Vijayan said Mohamed Riyas was not his daughter’s husband at the time the payments were made, and that ED’s claim was that Riyas — who became her husband years later — had taken that money and smuggled it abroad on his (Vijayan’s) behalf, calling this an implausible allegation. He said that all applicable taxes had been paid accurately, and that the matter of taxes paid had also gone to court. He said the remuneration given by CMRL for services rendered by his daughter’s company had never been kept secret. He said he would not get branded a bribe-taker before the people of Keralam regardless of how prominently such reports were published, asserting that his personal life was an open book and would not be discredited by what he described as the media’s vendetta, resentment and hatred.
He alleged that ED’s aim was to somehow implicate him, claiming the agency had been targeting him for a long time without success. He maintained that the remuneration received for those services was as per records, with taxes paid accurately, and questioned how remuneration given by a company as per records could constitute corruption. He added that he had not built his life through such practices.
He referred to an earlier campaign alleging that services had been provided to an institution linked to religious extremism. Kottayam : Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that the action of the enforcement directorate (ED) was shameful and that it would be countered both legally and politically. Vijayan was speaking after inaugurating the CPM area committee office at Mannar in Alappuzha on Wednesday.