B B Gopakumar is BJP parliamentary party leader
Kottayam : BJP legislature party leader B B Gopakumar on Saturday alleged that CPM veteran A K Balan met chief minister V D Satheesan to “intimidate and pressurise” him at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case involving the Pinarayi Vijayan family had reached a “decisive turning point. In a news conference on Saturday, Gopakumar claimed that the timing of Balan’s meeting with the CM, read alongside CPM state secretary M V Govindan’s earlier remarks that the list of those who allegedly received money from CMRL includes senior cabinet figures besides CPM leaders, deepened the “mystery” around the case. He alleged Balan visited the CM as a CPM “envoy” to undermine the case. Gopakumar said the CM owed the public an explanation of the meeting’s purpose and should clarify the state govt’s position on the ED’s report, if his claim that the meeting was not intended to influence the case was true.
He cited the case of a meeting between Kadakampally Surendran and Ramesh Chennithala, after which, he claimed, all the accused in the Sabarimala loot case had secured bail.
He said Satheesan, who as leader of the opposition, had taken a strong position on the monthly pay-off issue, should now order a vigilance investigation if he stood by that position, or hand the matter to the CBI if he lacked the “courage” to do so. Satheesan should honour his earlier declaration to prove the case if voted to power, Gopakumar said.