Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM state secretariat on Tuesday came down on finance minister T M Thomas Isaac for triggering a controversy over the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s inspection of KSFE branches. The secretariat meeting concluded that there was no justification for Isaac’s criticism, which should first have been aired within the party forum. CITU president Anathalavattom Anandan was also taken to task for his comments alluding to a conspiracy behind the vigilance action.
In an unusual step, the secretariat issued a press release that confirmed the censure of senior leaders without naming them. “Some responses to the raid were used for wrong interpretation and propaganda. They were made when some sections had tried to use the inspection to damage the reputation of a prestigious organization like the KSFE. Such public criticism should have been avoided,” it noted.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan presented the full picture of the inspection, including the preliminary investigation carried out by vigilance and the follow-up action. Sources quoted Vijayan as saying the inspection was routine in nature and that objecting to inspections in one department would only lead to similar sentiments from other departments which would render the whole system of vigilance ineffective. It is learnt that Vijayan also pointed out the impropriety on the part of Isaac who didn’t wait to get his facts right before going to the press. Vijayan also objected to some of the FM’s language, including questioning the ‘mental acuity’ of those who had ordered the raid.
Isaac explained his position and said he would have expected the courtesy of keeping him in the loop when a major investigation was being carried out in an institution that falls under his portfolio. He pointed out the folly of the timing of the raid, too, by referring to the witch hunt of ED and CBI against a prestigious state project. In the ensuing discussion, the leaders reached the conclusion that Isaac’s was an emotional response, rather than a logical one. They said the controversy should have been avoided, considering the upcoming local-body election. Surprisingly, no leader criticized the CM’s decision to allow a vigilance raid at such a critical juncture.
Isaac, who admitted in the meeting that he took an emotional position, later told reporters in Alappuzha that he could have demonstrated more caution. He said he fully accepted the party’s version that such a controversy should have been avoided. To a query, he replied that further issues, if any, would be levelled within party forums after the local-body polls. Anandan told the secretariat he was led into believing the raid was the handiwork of private players who have been baying for KSFE’s blood.
The fallout from the controversy once again attested Vijayan’s supremacy in the Kerala unit of the party. Along with acting state secretary A Vijayaraghavan, secretary-on-leave Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also attended Tuesday’s meeting. Sources said Isaac backtracked after gauging the mood in the party. But his statement that further questions would be levelled within the party after local-body elections is an indication that the issue is far from being put to rest.