Thiruvananthapuram, July 1 Ten hours after the CPI-M state party headquarters faced an attack with some explosive material by a person riding a two-wheeler, the CPI-M and the Congress have started trading charges blaming one another for the attack.
The incident occurred at 11.30 p.m. on Thursday. The police after examining the place said the sound resembled that of a cracker, but party central committee member and former State Minister P.K. Sreemathi said she was in the office and could sense something was wrong after hearing the sound.
Former State Home Minister and veteran Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala expressed surprise at the speed with which CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Left convenor E.P.Jayarajan pinned the blame on the Congress. He said, "How could they say within 10 minutes of the incident that this was the work done by the Congress workers."
"Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is presently caught in a bind on a few grave issues and in order to divert the attention, the CPI-M leadership is coming out with baseless allegations. On the one hand these leaders are asking their workers to maintain calm and on the other hand, they have unleashed attacks on various Congress party offices in Alappuzha district and other places," said Chennithala.
State Congress president K. Sudhakaran said this is the work of Jayarajan who has lots of links with goons.
"Does the CCTV visuals say that this has been done by the Congressmen. I will not say this has been done with the knowledge of the CPI-M, but Jayarajan is the culprit. This has been done with ulterior motives on the day when Rahul Gandhi is touring his constituency and to direct the attention from the flak that Vijayan and his family are presently facing. The Congress party has nothing to do with this," said Sudhakaran.
Vijayan arrived at the scene at 9.20 a.m. on Friday and after seeing the spot where the 'explosive' was thrown, he went inside the party office to attend the routine weekly state secretariat meeting.
The available visuals fail to identify the person and the registration number of the two-wheeler.
State CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran, who arrived at the scene, said this was a calculated move to destroy the peace in the state and to unsettle a firm government which is performing well.
State Tourism Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas, who is also the son-in-law of Vijayan said this is a concerted attempt to create problems in the state by the Congress and the BJP.
"This has been done purposely as all know what the consequence of this action would be. The Congress is shameless as they will welcome the person who did this act and make him a party office-bearer. The Congress perhaps knows that they might not come back to power here, so they are deeply upset and are doing these acts," said Riyas, whose wife Veena Vijayan is also presently under a cloud following the revelations made by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case.
Meanwhile, the police are trying to get any clue on the person who did the act.
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