Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition Congress in Kerala on Tuesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to reveal the details of the alleged mysterious death in connection with the gold smuggling case and claimed that the CPM-BJP nexus was the reason for him to hide the truth.
KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran said Shah should have the guts to disclose the details if any such death had occurred under mysterious circumstances as otherwise it would amount to hoodwinking the people of the state.
Covering up the details known to Shah, exposes the saffron party's "secret ties" with the Marxist party, he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala said the war of words between Shah and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the incident was just a "drama" and urged the latter to tell if such a death had indeed taken place.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was of the view that it was not mutual questions by the leaders of the two parties which people wanted, but answers.
The Congress leaders made the scathing attack against the BJP and the CPM while holding a joint press meet in New Delhi.
While addressing a mass rally of party workers at Shangumugham here on Sunday, Shah had mentioned about a "mysterious death related to the gold smuggling case".
Slamming the Kerala CM, he also asked Vijayan to answer certain queries posed by him related to the matter.
In a tit-for-tat, Vijayan on Monday described Shah as an "embodiment of communalism" and said it was the BJP leader who was jailed for the crimes of alleged "kidnapping and fake encounters".
"Both the BJP and CPM are trying to create a smokescreen among people. The speeches of Shah and Vijayan were part of a pre-planned script. Both the parties are aiming for a Congress-mukth Kerala," Ramachandran said.
The leaders also wanted to know why Vijayan was not being questioned by the investigating agencies over the mysterious death if Shah had information about the case.
"It clearly shows the secret undercurrent between the BJP and CPI(M). The union home minister is responsible if the probe into the gold smuggling case stops midway," they added.
Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran dismissed as "baseless" the allegations made by Vijayan against Shah.
Vijayan had referred to thedeaths of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and her brother Tulsiram Prajapathi to hit back at Shah.
He had also mentioned the death of CBI court Judge B H Loya, who was hearing those cases.
"Court had discharged Shah in those cases. But, now Vijayan, a murder case accused, is now raising it," Surendran said.
On Vijayan's description of Shah as an "embodiment of communalism", the BJP leader said the Left cadres were not even allowing the party to field a Hindu candidate in Ponnani in Muslim-dominated Malappuram district.
Surendran was referring to a protest rally taken out by the local CPM workers in Ponnani against the party leadership's reported decision to field CITU national secretary P Nandakumar in the constituency.
The protesters wanted party district secretariat member, T M Siddique as candidate.
Kerala goes to elect 140 Legislators on April 6, and hitherto it was a direct electoral fight between the Congress-led UDF and the CPI-M led LDF .
But of late, the BJP-led NDA also has appeared in the political scenario of Kerala. In the 2016 Assembly polls, it managed to open its account by winning one seat and finished second in seven constituencies.
At the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, all what it managed was 15.64 per cent of the total votes polled, up from the 14.96 per cent which they managed in the 2016 Assembly polls.
(With inputs from PTI)
