Ajith Kumar met RSS leader Dattatreya in Thrissur at Pinarayi's behest: Satheesan

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan on Wednesday stepped up the attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying he had sent ADGP M R Ajith Kumar to meet with a top RSS leader. Satheesan said Ajith Kumar had met with the RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale when the latter was in Thrissur in 2023 for a programme.

"RSS held a camp at Paramekkavu Vidya Mandir Hall from May 20-23, 2023. We want to ask the chief minister why he sent the ADGP in charge of law and order, Ajith Kumar, to meet him there," Satheesan told the media in Thiruvananthapuram. The Congress leader said Ajith Kumar went to meet the RSS leader in a private vehicle after parking his official car at the Hyatt Hotel. The meeting lasted for an hour, and it was facilitated by a prominent RSS leader in Thiruvananthapuram," Satheesan said. He challenged CM Vijayan or Ajith Kumar to deny that the meeting took place.

Satheesan cited the alleged meeting as proof for the Congress' long-pending allegation that there has been an unholy nexus between the RSS/BJP and CPM in Kerala. In response to a question, he said he had learned that the meeting was all about the cases against the CPM leaders being probed by the central agencies.

Satheesan made the allegation amid the controversies surrounding the ADGP, which has put the Pinarayi government in trouble. CPM-backed MLA P V Anvar has recently unleashed an attack against Ajith Kumar, saying the ADGP was involved in murders, gold smuggling and corruption. The allegations also put the chief minister's political secretary, P Sasi, long accused by political rivals of controlling the police force, under suspicion. The government has ordered a probe into the allegations. Satheesan on Wednesday reiterated that the investigation is a sham since the chief minister has retained the accused officer and his political secretary in their respective posts.

Satheesan said the CM is afraid to touch the ADGP since the latter can spill the beans, which can put the government in trouble.

On Anvar's meeting with the CM, after which the Nilambur MLA, in effect, called a truce in his war against Ajith Kumar, Satheesan said it just needs to be known how he was threatened. "Anvar, who came out of the meeting, wasn't the same person who went inside," Satheesan said. "After raising murder and smuggling charges against the ADGP, Anvar is now saying he did not call for the officer's removal. It would have been better had he taken two garlands -- one for Ajith Kumar and one for Sasi, and honoured them," Satheesan taunted.

The Congress leader also repeated the allegation that the Thrissur Pooram was disrupted by the then commissioner, Ankit Asokan, with the knowledge of the ADGP and the CM, to create a Hindu polarisation that worked in favour of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.