Kerala : CPI (M) leader faces flak for driving in a gold sumggler’s car

Chennai : The CPI (M) was left red-faced after state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan drove in a luxury car owned by a gold smuggling case accused during the ongoing Jana Jagratha Yatra.

Notably, CPI (M) heads the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala.

The CPI (M) launched Jana Jagratha Yatra on October 21 as an answer to BJP’s Janaraksha Yatra, which was held from October 3 to October 17.

However, a controversy broke out after it came to light that the Mini Cooper Convertible Car in which Kodiyeri travelled to the yatra at Koduvally on Wednesday belongs to Karat Faisal, as per sources said.

Faisal is an accused in the 2013 gold smuggling case registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The opposition was quick to clobber the CPI (M) with leader of the opposition, Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress saying that the fact that Kodiyeri travelled in a car owned by an accused in a smuggling case indicates the degeneracy of CPI (M).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state general secretary K Surendran reportedly took to Facebook to allege unholy nexus between Kodiyeri and Karat Faisal. As the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) as well joined the tirade against the ruling CPI (M), the whole thing is turning out to be a political blame game.

Kodiyeri tried to defend himself saying the car was rented by the local unit of CPI (M) for the yatra as the party do not own a vehicle. Kodiyeri also stated that when he got on the car he was not aware that it belonged to a smuggling case accused. The party will, however, probe whether there was negligence on the issue.

Faisal has reportedly claimed that he do not personally know Kodiyeri and has admitted to his arrest by the DRI while the kingpin in the case Shahbaz affirmed that Faisal is one of the accused in the smuggling case.

Interestingly, the CPI (M) claims itself to be a party that “steadfastly upholds the highest standards of political morality and launching struggles against corruption and moral degradation.” The history of the party in Kerala however proves otherwise.

Source : Mumbai Mirror