Kerala: CPM to rally public opinion against ‘baseless’ allegations

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM state secretariat on Friday decided to build a counter offensive to the fresh allegations raised by gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh against the CM and his family members and the opposition protests. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishan said the party would counter the "political attack" on the CM by rallying people.
Balakrishnan told reporters after the secretariat meeting that the controversies were aimed at weakening the government. "Now the target is CM and his family. Largescale conspiracy is behind such allegations. The CM is not going to step down fearing protests," he said, adding that the government and the party would face any opposition attempt to stage a riot with public support.
He said the CPM suspected the role of BJP behind the new spate of allegations. The Congress-led opposition would not have launched the protests, demanding the CM's resignation, if it was not party to the plot against the government, he said.
The CPM state secretary said the statements of Swapna are full of contradictions. "She first said the CM has no role in gold smuggling. She even said she faced pressure to give sta-tements against the CM. She also changed her first statement that CM's former principal secretary M Sivasankar had no connection with the smuggling case," he said.