Lashing out at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday termed the former as a big liar and said the only thing one can be happy about is that it seems that he has got his memory back.

"Since the gold smuggling case surfaced after the arrest of prime accused Swapna Suresh in July, it was only yesterday (Tuesday) that for the first time Vijayan admitted that he knew her. And this surfaced only after her statement given to the Enforcement Directorate came out in the open the other day. It's good that Vijayan has got back his memory, as all through he never ever said this and suddenly remembered when her testimony to the ED surfaced. So we can all be happy that he has got his memory back," said Chennithala.

"Vijayan is a liar of the first order as he said he does not know how she got the job in the Space Park, which is directly under his control. This must be seen from the point of what he said  yesterday that he knew her as she often used to come along with the UAE Consulate top officials. If so, why did he not ask anything when she was present for over three hours at the special meeting of the Space Park in which Vijayan took part. Anyone would  have asked, how is she present at the high level special meeting. He is lying," added Chennithala.

Ever since the gold smuggling case hit the headlines and the link between Swapna Suresh and the office of Vijayan surfaced, the Congress led opposition has been going hammer and tongs at Vijayan demanding his resignation, which so far has fallen on deaf ears. With the Assembly polls round the corner, this is going to be a key issue which will reverberate for a while.