Alappuzha, 26 Sept (H.S.): Kerala opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the BJP and Congress of using the CMRL–Exalogic “monthly payment” case to target the CPI(M) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) through him.

Addressing an expanded district committee meeting in Alappuzha, Vijayan said the agreement between Exalogic and CMRL was a lawful commercial arrangement between two companies. Services were provided under a contract, the payment was recorded in the accounts, and all applicable taxes were paid, he asserted.

“What is the offence in that?” he asked, arguing that the controversy had been framed around his family to damage him politically. According to Vijayan, the focus shifted from the company and its owner to her father from the beginning. He said he had faced such attacks before and would not be intimidated by them.

Vijayan also rejected claims linking the payments to his daughter’s husband. He said Exalogic had entered into the agreement with CMRL years before her marriage and had received the full payment before the wedding. He ridiculed the suggestion that the money had been set aside in anticipation of a future husband who would later move it abroad.

The case, he alleged, was part of a deliberate campaign against the LDF and the CPI(M), driven by the RSS and BJP with the UDF joining them. His comments placed the dispute within the wider political confrontation between the Left and its rivals in Kerala.

Vijayan said politically motivated actions by either the Union or state governments should be exposed and resisted. Kerala would respond to such moves, he said, adding that the CPI(M) would pursue the same course. He said the party would counter the allegations in public and defend its position.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman