Thiruvananthapuram: The war of words between Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law, state Minister for Public Works and Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas, continued for the second day.
On Thursday, Satheesan said, “On the one hand he (Riyas) says about others that they are spineless, but I wish to ask, why is he silent when the family members are being dragged into numerous allegations.”
“Not even one defamation notice has been served and he says others have no spine,” said Satheesan while attacking Riyas.
Incidentally, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh has levelled serious allegations against the family members of the Chief Minister, including Vijayan, his wife Kamala, daughter Veena Vijayan and son Vivek.
She has alleged that Vijayan and his family are engaged in smuggling gold and currencies, and till date, neither Vijayan nor anyone named by her has filed a defamation notice against her.
Veena married Riyas in 2020 and it was the second marriage for both. At that time Riya was only a youth leader of the CPI(M). Later he was given a ticket to contest from his home district Kozhikode in the 2021 Assembly polls. Many were baffled when Riyas was made a state Minister bypassing several seniors in the party.
Satheesan on Wednesday referred to Riyas’s rise to the Vijayan’s cabinet berth as ‘management quota’.
Riyas on Thursday told the media that he will not be replying to the personal allegations made against him by Satheesan as the people know everything.
“Maybe Satheesan is behind the campaign against me that’s going on in social media. Satheesan is only engaged in a mock attack against the Centre and has been totally silent when the Modi government goes forward with anti-people policies. Satheesan has a complex because he is not a Leader of Opposition who has the support of all and hence he has problems,” said Riyas.
–IANS