Kerala CM's daughter's financial dealings: Cong goes 'soft'

Thiruvananthapuram: A controversy has erupted in Kerala over some financial transactions between a private minerals company and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter T Veena and her IT firm.

Evidence has also cropped up that also 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 recently reported that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) paid a total of RS 1.72 crore to the CM's daughter during a period of three years between 2017 and 2020.

The newspaper 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.

Despite the fact that no service was rendered by her firm, the amount was paid on a monthly basis due to her relationship with a "prominent person", the report said, citing the deposition of the minerals company authorities before the Income Tax Department.

As the news report snowballed into a political row, the BJP attacked Chief Minister Vijayan and urged him to break his silence over the allegations cropping up against his daughter.

The Congress, however, went soft on the matter, prompting the saffron party to question the grand old party for not raising it in the ongoing Assembly Session.

Lashing out at the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-headed UDF over the issue, BJP state Chief K Surendran said the ruling and opposition parties in Kerala are the ones who accept money from "robbers" on a monthly basis.

Not just the CM 's daughter, but the Opposition leaders also received "monthly payments" from the mining company, he said, while addressing the party's assembly march here.

Criticising the UDF for not raising the raging issue in the Assembly, Surendran charged that the opposition leaders in the state became the ones who extended all support to the corruption of the CM and his daughter.

 Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan rejected the criticism, saying that even if the opposition had given a notice for adjournment over the issue, the CM would not have replied.

However, the ruling CPI(M) categorically rubbished the charges and claimed that the news report was totally baseless and that the CM's daughter received the amount as per the legally valid contract between her IT firm and the minerals company.

"A contract between two companies is a transparent one. All the financial transactions that were part of it were done through the bank," the party's state secretariat said in a statement on Thursday.

Such a legal transaction between the two companies was depicted as a monthly payment, and nothing wrong has happened in connection with the deal, it said.

"Children of political activists also have the same right as all other citizens to take up any legitimate occupation. Veena also started a consulting firm based on this. All its operations are transparent," the Marxist party further said.

Stating that the accused company itself made it clear that there was no wrongdoing in this regard, the ruling party also said that the chief minister has nothing to do with these issues.

A conspiracy was clearly behind unnecessarily dragging the name of the chief minister in the settlement order, it said adding that the remarks were made without hearing Veena's version.

The people of the state will reject such false stories just as they did when similar allegations cropped up against the CM's family before, the party leadership added.

However, rejecting the CPI(M) 's claims, Satheesan told reporters that the verdict of the interim settlement board of the Income Tax Department indicated grave corruption by the CM's daughter.

"The finding of the settlement board was that the money was paid to Veena's company without providing any service. The minerals firm's officials themselves gave such a statement," he said. (PTI)