 "Congress MLA demands apology from CM Vijayan on 'gold smuggling' remark'")
Congress MLA Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday condemned the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for claiming "illegal gold smuggling" activities in Malappuram and demanded an apology from him.
"The recent interview by the Kerala Chief Minister has created a lot of confusion among the people of Kerala. He has accused the people of Malappuram of illegal gold smuggling activities in Karipur airport at Malappuram," said the Congress MLA.
The Congress MLA referenced a media report published on September 30, where a quote was attributed to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan talking gold smuggling in the Malappuram district. The Chief Minister's office later issued a clarification on the remarks, saying that those quotes had been wrongly attributed to the CM.
The Congress MLA alleged that earlier, when issues of gold smuggling were raised, the CM was silent.
"As chief minister, he should not have attributed an allegation like this to the people of Malappuram. Earlier, when we were raising the allegation of gold smuggling, the CM was silent. It is his duty to take action against the people involved in it. Now how can he accuse the people of Malappuram?," he said.
Demanding an apology from the CM, he said that after the Lok Sabha elections, his tone has changed.
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"Normally he doesn't give interview to anybody, when he was in Delhi he has given an interview to an English newspaper through a PR agency. After the Lok Sabha elections, his voice has changed. It's sounding like the Sangh Parivar voice. We are demanding an apology from chief minister," he added.
He further said according to information recieved by the him, the PR agency that worked with the CM also allegedly worked with the BJP in Maharashtra.
"The people are saying this PR agency is behind working with BJP and the Mahayuti in Maharashtra in the background. It is mostly associated with BJP propaganda and their political activities, that is the information that we got," the MLA added.
He also said that people have already started agitating in Kerala against the CM's remarks, "The opposition in Kerala is fighting for the people, we have gone to the people and the agitations have already started.