The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat that met here on Friday pledged complete support to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and endorsed the decision to suspend former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar in connection with the gold smuggling case.

Briefing reporters about the secretariat deliberations, party State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters that there was no lapse in taking action in the gold smuggling case and reiterated that neither the government nor Mr. Vijayan would protect anyone involved in the case.

Despite the government action, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) were embarking on a campaign to vilify Mr. Vijayan and destabilise the government. The Opposition was trying to create a smokescreen to mislead the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and Customs probe into the case.

The Opposition bid to draw Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan into the controversy was unfortunate. Referring to the notice on the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the government and the Speaker, Mr. Balakrishnan said that discussion on the motion would prove the popularity of the government and the support it enjoyed among the people.

Violating the COVID-19 protocol, the Opposition was trying to create anarchy in the name of the agitation against the government. The High Court had to intervene to halt the agitation till July 31, he said.

Mr. Balakrishnan denied reports that the party had lost its clout in the government. The party did not intervene in the routine administration, but advised the government only on policy matters. The appointments made by various consultancies was being reviewed. Consultancies cannot be done away with at one go and certain projects needed it. “No official should fly above the government,” he said.

Mr. Balakrishnan ruled out chances of making any change in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in the wake of the latest developments.

The party would not go on a campaign till July 31, but launch a house-visit programme from the first week of August. A mass campaign would be launched to counter the Opposition bid to target the government from August 16, he said.