ED, IT action: CPM to use victim argument; Congress worried

KOCHI: The leadership is worried that the investigations being conducted by central agencies against the CPM and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter will turn out to be detrimental to the Congress in the elections. Another reason for this concern is the possibility that the anti-central campaign launched by the CPM, raising the victim argument, could raise sentiments in favour of the LDF. The Congress has stepped up the campaign of collusion between the CPM and the BJP and has moved to defend it.

Thrissur District Committee's bank accounts were frozen following investigations by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Income Tax Department (IT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter. The investigation into the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank loan fraud against the CPM is ongoing. The CPM's move is to intensify the campaign that the Centre is hunting them just like how Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party were entangled in cases. The party will be campaigning that the Centre, which is constricting Kerala economically, is using investigative agencies to move against the CPM.

Leaders including Rahul Gandhi argue that the Centre is hunting Arvind Kejriwal. Congress cannot politically support the investigation against CPM in Kerala. The leaders say that the freezing of CPM's account during the elections and the ED filing a case against Veena Vijayan are suspicious and the central agencies are giving the CPM a chance to win votes by raising the victim argument in the name of the cases. At the same time, the UDF is moving to strengthen the campaign that the CPM and the BJP are colluding to defeat the Congress.