What started as a held-back contest between the Communist Party of India (Marxist)‘s Jaick C. Thomas and the Congress’ Chandy Oommen for the Puthuppally Assembly constituency has apparently descended into a pugnacious political slugfest that seems to border on the personal.
The gloves seem to come off with Congress leader Mathew Kuzhalnadan, MLA, taking a swing at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family, and his office at a press conference in Kottayam.
He accused Mr. Vijayan’s daughter and businesswoman Veena Vijayan of evading IGST on “questionable” payments she received from a mining firm based in Kochi from 2016-20.
Mr. Kuzhalnadan, apparently stung by the “land-grab and tax evasion” charges raised against him by the CPI(M) and the revenue resurvey of his family property in Ernakulam, has emerged as the spearhead of the Congress’s anti-government campaign.
He theatrically emailed Finance K.N. Balagopal at the press conference, asking the government to “recover the tax Ms. Veena owed the treasury”. Mr. Kuzhalnadan also pointed out that an IT statutory body had ruled that Ms. Veena had rendered no tangible service to the mining firm to justify the sizeable retainers she received.
He claimed that her firm’s audit report showed foreign currency transactions. “Nevertheless, the firm has not filed a return on service export, if any,” he said.
Mr. Kuzhalnadan claimed the “damning revelations were just the tip of the iceberg and more would surface”.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan demanded a Vigilance inquiry against Mr. Vijayan for “causing an estimated ₹36-crore loss to the exchequer by granting an interest-free mobilisation advance to a consortium of CPI(M)-favoured companies tasked to implement the KFON project”.
The Congress appeared to have gone back on its decision to duck confrontation and personalise politics in Puthuppally. The CPI(M)‘s “targeting” of Opposition leaders reportedly caused the Congress to change tack and resort to an attack-style campaign, casting Mr. Vijayan at its centre.
The CPI(M) pushed back against the Congress leadership. The All India Lawyer’s Union has moved the bar council seeking Mr. Kuzhalnadan’s debarment on the allegation that he partnered in a private business.
The politics of payback seems poised to continue well after the Puthuppally byelection as the drum beats of the 2024 Lok Sabha election are drawing closer.
