Congress MLA seeks Vigilance probe into graft charges against Kerala CM's daughter

Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan lodged a complaint with the state Vigilance Director on Thursday, seeking a probe into a corruption allegation against an IT company owned by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T Veena.

Media reports about some financial transactions between a private minerals company and the CM’s daughter’s IT firm have triggered a huge political controversy in the southern state recently.

The Muvattupuzha legislator said he submitted the complaint letter and handed over substantial evidence to prove the charges to the anti-corruption agency. However, Vijayan had rubbished the charges and said the allegations were made to tarnish his image and defame him.

Fight against corruption

The MLA said that though he had raised the issue several times, including in the assembly, he had not received any convincing reply from the chief minister.

Kuzhalnadan said he was launching the second phase of his battle against this corruption, and “it is a legal fight”. “I lodged the complaint with the Vigilance Director, seeking to register a case into the issue under the Prevention of Corruption Act and investigate the matter,” he told reporters outside the Vigilance Directorate in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Congress leader also criticised the chief minister for not giving any convincing reply to the charges that cropped up against him and his family. He further said that the charges were made not to create a “smokescreen’ of doubts, and no concerned persons had given any reply to his questions so far.

“I have all the permission and support of my party in this fight,” Kuzhalnadan said. A controversy erupted in Kerala recently over some financial transactions between a Kochi-based private minerals company and CM Vijayan’s daughter Veena and her IT firm.

Critical evidence

Evidence also cropped up that showed that the company had dealings with top leaders of both the ruling CPI(M) as well as the Opposition Congress-led UDF. The issue came to the fore after a Malayalam daily reported that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd paid a total of Rs 1.72 crore to the CM’s daughter between 2017 and 2020.

The news report, citing the recent ruling of an Interim Board for Settlement, said that the Kochi-based company previously had an agreement with Veena’s IT firm for consultancy and software support services.

Even though no service was rendered by her firm, the amount was paid every month “due to her relationship with a prominent person”, the report said, citing the deposition of the minerals company authorities before the Income Tax Department.

(With agency inputs)