THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The arrest of KPCC president K Sudhakaran, who is the second accused in the fake antiquities fraud case, is the beginning of an open political counter-attack that the Pinarayi government is planning to launch against the opposition, which is constantly attacking and tarnishing the government's image through allegations of corruption. The government is also strengthening the vigilance case against opposition leader VD Satheesan for allegedly accepting foreign donations in violation of the rules. This will be a powerful political weapon for the CPM in the run-up to the parliamentary elections.
At the same time, the Congress has decided to intensify its campaign alleging Sudhakaran's arrest as a political vendetta. It is alleged that the Pinarayi government has a fascist approach similar to that of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. KPCC has called for a state-wide black day today to protest Sudhakaran's arrest.
The indications that things are moving toward Sudhakaran's arrest were strong in the last few days. Anticipating this, Sudhakaran approached the High Court and obtained anticipatory bail. He was arrested and released on bail as he was granted anticipatory bail. CPM is calculating that the state Congress leadership can be put on the defensive by implicating the KPCC president in the case of accepting bribes in connection with the antiquities scam. The crime branch team, which is investigating the case, repeats that there is strong scientific and digital evidence against Sudhakaran, which also paves the way to keep the Congress in the dark.
The Congress leadership believes that there is a political ulterior motive behind the government's decision to strengthen the cases against K Sudhakaran and VD Satheesan, and expects such a suspicion to arise among the general public as well. The decision is for propaganda programs to use this as a political advantage. Being able to bring together group leaders who have been at loggerheads over block presidential appointments is a relief for Congress at this juncture.