Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Kc Venugopal on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, posing ’10 questions’ on what he alleged were covert understandings between the ruling Left and the BJP.In his letter, Venugopal said the questions reflect what is being widely discussed on the ground and asked Vijayan to respond.“As Kerala once again stands at the threshold of an election, there remain a number of questions in the minds of the people regarding the legacy of your ten-year rule,” Venugopal said.A key focus of the letter was Vijayan’s meetings with senior BJP leaders. Venugopal asked: “What was the agenda behind your meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah at his residence in Delhi, excluding officials? Was that where the ‘deal’ was struck?”He raised similar questions over a breakfast meeting with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Kerala House and interactions with Union minister Nitin Gadkari, asking whether these meetings were part of any “understanding” with the BJP.The Congress leader questioned the state government’s move to implement the PM SHRI scheme despite opposition from CPI leaders within the Left Democratic Front (LDF). “What ‘deal’ was behind this? Whose interests were you protecting… while keeping your own coalition partners in the dark?” he asked.Venugopal also alleged that decisions related to labour codes were taken “in extreme secrecy” without consulting allies, and flagged the increase in trade union registration fees, asking whom the move was meant to “satisfy”.The letter also referred to ongoing and past cases. On the SNC-Lavalin case, Venugopal questioned repeated adjournments in the Supreme Court, asking whether they were linked to a “deal” with the Centre. He also cited the Exalogic Solutions case and the gold and dollar smuggling cases, questioning why probes had “stalled midway” and whether there had been any intervention.He further raised the issue of senior police officer M R Ajith Kumar and alleged links with RSS leaders, and referred to an alleged meeting between Vijayan and BJP leaders at a hotel, asking if the chief minister would disclose the details.The letter comes amid an intense contest between the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF for the 140-seat Kerala Assembly. The state is expected to go to polls in 2026.
