What unfolded in Thiruvananthapuram on the May 27 was not the conduct of a political movement confident in its innocence. It was the behaviour of a party machinery desperately trying to convert a financial investigation into a mass emotional spectacle.

Let us begin with the most inconvenient fact for the CPM. The Enforcement Directorate did not raid the Kerala Chief Minister's office. It did not summon the Cabinet. It did not arrest ministers. It did not launch an inquiry into the LDF government as an institution.

The investigation concerns Veena Thaikkandiyil, her company Exalogic, and the controversial financial transactions linked to Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited. That is the legal and factual core of the matter. The rest is theatre.

The SFIO proceedings and Income Tax findings did not emerge from WhatsApp forwards or anonymous gossip. They emerged from statutory agencies examining documented financial transactions. The allegation is serious because the payments themselves are serious.

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Monthly sums allegedly flowing over a prolonged period, with investigators questioning whether corresponding services were actually rendered, is not some trivial accounting dispute. Once such findings exist, the Enforcement Directorate is not merely entitled to investigate.

It would be absurd if it did not. That is how institutions are supposed to function. Yet the CPM has reacted as though Delhi has sent tanks into Kerala. Suddenly, every........

© Mathrubhumi English