Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: ‘Vijayan One Of The Richest CMs Of Country,’ Says BJP; Organises Protest Demanding Ouster

Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: State president of BJP, K Surendran, on Sunday slammed the Left government in the state, alleging that all government schemes implemented in Kerala in the last four years were a means of making money for Pinarayi and his family.

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Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: Launching an attack at the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit on Sunday launched a pan state protest against the alleged involvement of CM Vijayan in the gold smuggling case. The party took to streets demanding a resignation from the Chief Minister accusing him of introducing schemes that are aimed at profiting ministers in the government and the leaders of the Left parties. State president of BJP, K Surendran, on Sunday slammed the Left government in the state, alleging that all government schemes implemented in Kerala in the last four years were a means of making money for Pinarayi and his family. He has alleged that Vijayan is one of the richest Chief Ministers of the country. Surendran alleged that Vijayan and his former principal secretary M Sivasankar conspired to turn over land which was considered a special economic zone for smart cities to private individuals. He also said that the Kerala Cricket Association has embezzled lakhs and part of it has gone to the government and party leaders. Surendran sought a probe in the matter. BJP's national vice president AP Abdullakutty said that CM Vijayan should resign. “Apart from the gold smuggling and the Life Mission, there have been many shocking frauds committed by M Sivasankar, who was the principal secretary to the Kerala CMO," he  was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Notably, Vijayan is facing a flak from the state opposition parties over the gold scandal in which his former principal secy M Sivasankar was said to be involved, and after the scam came to light, Vijayan had to sack him. The gold smuggling case first surfaced when P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was arrested by the Customs Department on July 5 when he was allegedly facilitating the smuggling of 30 kg gold in a diplomatic baggage from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram.