'Speaker acting like puppet in hands of Pinarayi'; vigilance probe politically motivated, says Chennithala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday lashed out at Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan after the latter granted permission for a vigilance inquiry against Chennithala in the bar bribery case. Terming the Speaker's move politically motivated, Chennithala said that the Speaker seems to be a puppet in the hands of the Chief Minister,

" The speaker is acting like a puppet in hands of the CM by obeying what the CM asks him to do. The vigilance probe is a revenge for the opposition's fight against the government's corruption. We will deal with it both politically and legally," Chennithala said.

"When the CM understood that he would be soon caught in a corruption case, he decided that a probe should be initiated against the opposition leader as well," he added. Chennithala added that Pinarayi Vijayan will not succeed in destroying Congress through such acts.