ED a political tool of BJP, nothing else: CPI-M leader Thomas Isaac

Senior CPIM leader Thomas Isaac on Thursday alleged that the Enforcement Directorate ED was a political tool of the BJPruled Centre which was attempting to overturn development projects in Kerala and push the state into financial ruin by going after KIIFBED is BJPs political tool Nothing else They use ED to isolate arrest or detain their political opponents or topple state governments ruled by opposition parties They will do anything without any hesitation Isaac said while speaking to reporters hereThe former state minister was speaking to reporters about the summons issued to him by ED the plea he has moved in the Kerala High Court challenging the same and the decision not to appear before the agency till the high court decides his petitionIsaac said that the decision not to appear before the ED was not his personal one and was taken after discussions and deliberations within the party which has decided to await the high court orderHe claimed that the ED probe into Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board KIIFB has a clear cut political objective which was to hamper the development in the southern stateThey want to create a belief among the public that there are huge irregularities going on in KIIFB he allegedThe Centre is doing this and its attempts to push Kerala into financial ruin will not be successful as it cannot completely cut off all the revenue streams of the state he allegedIsaac said that the Centre cannot stop Keralas share in central taxes or the share in GST nor can it interfere with the taxes levied in the stateWhat they can do is take away our right to avail loans by terming the loans availed by KIIFB as that of the state government and thereby push Kerala into financial constraints he claimedThe ED and certain other groups are working to achieve this objective he allegedHe also blamed the Congressled UDF opposition for hampering development in the state when they were in power and alleged that they have now joined ED against the LDF government in KeralaThey Congress have not learnt their lesson from what is happening in Delhi They have a separate outlook when it comes to Kerala They have no national outlook he saidIsaac said that the party has decided to legally and politically counter the Centres alleged moves to hamper development in the state and push it into financial ruinThe plea filed by him in the high court is part of the legal initiatives and as part of the political strategy the public will be taken into confidence against the Centres actions he said and added that if we have the peoples support there is no need to fear any EDIsaac in a tweet on Wednesday said that he has asked the probe agency to recall the summons sent to him and alleged that its roving enquiry into the matter was against the spirit of the Supreme Court ordersIn his plea in the high court he has sought directions restraining the ED from enforcing his personal appearance before them for an offence that they are not willing to divulge He has also contended that the summons are exfacie illegal and beyond the jurisdiction of the scope of inquiry contemplated under the FEMA since admittedly there is no violation of any provision of the said Act The ED had served a notice to the senior Marxist leader last month seeking his appearance before it on July 19 He however did not appear before the probe agency saying he had to attend classes at a partyrun institute in the state capitalThe second notice seeking his appearance was sent by the ED last weekIsaac had said before the last Assembly election that the ED the CAG and even the Income Tax Department were after KIIFBThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever