T’puram: Union minister for parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi said here on Saturday that the silence of CM Pinarayi Vijayan to a set of questions raised by Union home minister Amit Shah on gold smuggling case can be considered as his confession in the crime.
“The CM has not yet been able to explain about gold smuggling and Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the crime. People want to know what the chief minister has to say on these matters,” Joshi told reporters.
The minister who said that Vijayan’s reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Saturday was below the standard. He said defence forces routinely generate bills for the work they do during natural calamities and it would be settled either by the state or the Centre. “Even if the work is done for Centre, they are supposed to generate bills. Somebody will have to bear the expenses. There is no ground for making baseless allegations in this regard,” he said.
Joshi urged the election commission to seriously view the welfare pension and food kit distribution by LDF when they accompany EC representatives to the residence of voters in connection with postal voting. There should be a fool-proof mechanism to cast postal votes impartially, he added. The minister said the leaders of both LDF and UDF were making contradictory statements regarding their front’s stand in the Sabarimala issue. While the Congress high command and KPCC don’t agree on women entry issue, same is with the left parties, he said.