Kollam: Congress has demanded a CBI probe into Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan's allegations that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan gave undue favours to the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd, which is embroiled in the monthly pay scam.
In a joint press conference here on Tuesday, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran and opposition leader V D Satheesan asked the CM to resign from the post and face the probe. The party also threw their weight behind the Muvattupuzha MLA.
Sudhakaran noted that Kuzhalnadan has raised serious allegations against the Chief Minister. He claimed that the MLA has evidence to prove the charges against Pinarayi. “KPCC will support Kuzhalnadan in the case. If CM refuses to initiate a probe into the allegations, Congress will initiate legal proceedings,” he added.
However, he claimed that nothing will come out of such a probe because the 'unholy nexus between the BJP and the CPM will hinder the probe under central agencies against Pinarayi Vijayan'.
Addressing a press conference in the state capital on Monday, Kuzhalnadan said that the Chief Minister had intervened "directly and illegally" to exempt Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), the company involved in monthly pay-off scam from land ceiling norms. He said that the CM went out of his way to meddle in the affairs of the state revenue department, a department not under his direct watch, and created conditions to revive a CMRL request for exemption from the Land Reforms Act that was rejected at least twice.
