THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Keralam Minister K Muraleedharan on Tuesday said that the UDF government's decision to order a preliminary enquiry into the Pinarayi Vijayan-CMRL issue was the correct move.
Muraleedharan said that though the Congress, at the national level, is not in agreement with the stand of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), when the agency gives a letter making allegations of corruption, it has to be investigated.
The ED had sent a letter to the state police seeking registration of an FIR against former Chief Minister Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act in connection with the alleged CMRL bribery case.
"That is why the government decided to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations in the ED letter before taking any further action on it. It was a Cabinet decision," he told reporters.
But when the Kerala High Court directed lodging of an FIR, the government did that, he added.
"Now, Vijayan has gone in appeal against that. If he succeeds, there will be a stay; else the case will move forward," he said.
The Health and Devaswom minister said that when ED notices were sent to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, they had appeared before the agency and answered its questions, even while opposing its actions.
When reporters raised queries about differences of opinion in the party on various issues, the minister said that following the KPCC chief's directive a day ago, he was not going to comment on any of it, including the matter involving UDF convener Adoor Prakash.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sunny Joseph on Monday warned party leaders to avoid making contentious statements in public, as it will neither benefit them nor the organisation.
His warning came amidst criticism from certain quarters in the party over the alleged delay in lodging an FIR against CPI(M) veteran Vijayan in the alleged CMRL bribery case and Prakash's criticism of Chief Minister V D Satheesan.
Prakash has accused Satheesan of unilaterally making major administrative and policy decisions without consulting him or alliance partners.
The UDF convener had also escalated the matter by filing a formal written complaint with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and meeting AICC general secretary Deepa Dasmunsi and Rahul Gandhi to demand central intervention.