Thiruvananthapuram: A day after he was barred from citing a report published in Malayala Manorama on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter in Assembly, Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan trained his gun on the CPM and PWD minister Mohamed Riyas.
He said CPM leaders fear the wrath of Pinarayi and added that switching off his mike will not silence him.
"Neither the income tax returns filed by Pinarayi's daughter Veena Vijayan nor the affidavit submitted by her husband and minister P A Mohamed Riyas to the Election Commission disclose the money she received from CMRL. Either the minister must admit the affidavit was wrong or she must clarify that she has not received the money," Kuzhalnadan said.
"Those who talk about transparency have the responsibility to disclose full facts to the public," he added.
The findings of the IT Settlement Board were first reported by Malayala Manorama in its August 9 edition. The report said that Veena Vijayan and her company Exalogic Solutions received Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh a month, respectively, for three years from 2017, a total of Rs 1.72 crore.
"In her, IT returns, Veena has shown Rs 8,25,708 as income in 2016-17; Rs 22 lakh in 2018-19 and Rs 30,72,841 in 2019-20," Kuzhalnadan told reporters. "If she has received money from CMRL, the minister must specify why was it not mentioned in the election affidavit?"
"This is not to say we politicians' children should not do business. But the information of the business must be disclosed. Since doubts have been raised, Veena must release the names of the organisations with which she has business dealings. People want information. You can't dissuade me by switching off my mike or threatening me in the Assembly," he added.
"CPM leader A K Balan's comment that the opposition did not raise Veena's issue in the House because of fear shows the current state of mind in his party. CPM used to fear the people. Now they fear Pinarayi. Everyone from politburo down is afraid of Pinarayi," he added.
Kuzhalnadan said the major part of the CPM secretariat's statement on the CMRL issue was about Veena and there were only two lines for Pinarayi.
