Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday, 13 October accused the Congress-led state government of deliberately delaying legal action against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to shield him from an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into alleged hawala transactions. The allegations were made in Thiruvananthapuram, intensifying the political battle over the ongoing investigation in Kerala.

The FIR Delay at the Centre of the Row

Chandrasekhar zeroed in on a four-day gap between a Kerala High Court order directing the state government to act on the allegations and the eventual registration of an FIR against Vijayan. He questioned whether the delay was engineered to give the former Chief Minister time to mount a legal challenge.

His suspicion appears to be backed by timing: Vijayan reportedly filed an appeal in the High Court within half an hour of the FIR being registered, according to Chandrasekhar. 'Was the delay intended to allow Vijayan to approach the court?' the BJP leader asked, calling it a pattern of political protection rather than due process.

SIT Progress Under Scrutiny

Chandrasekhar also turned his attention to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case, saying seventeen days had elapsed since its constitution with no clarity on the steps taken. 'The law allows a maximum of 14 days for a preliminary inquiry. What has the SIT done during that period?' he said, questioning the pace and direction of the investigation.

He alleged that the Congress and its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), feared the probe could expand to cover alleged hawala transactions implicating members of the Congress-led Cabinet itself — a claim that, if substantiated, would significantly widen the scope of the controversy.

Congress Accused of Double Standards

Chandrasekhar alleged that the Congress had initially committed to following the law without political vendetta when the SIT was set up, but had since retreated from that position. He accused the party of prioritising its own political interests over legal accountability and charged that the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) had effectively become allies — both in Kerala and at the national level.

This comes amid the ED having directed Kerala Police Chief Ravada Azad Chandrasekhar to register a case last month. The BJP's broader narrative is that the Congress, despite being in power in the state, is unwilling to pursue a serious investigation that could embarrass the CPI-M, its rival turned ally in the eyes of the BJP.

Political Context and What Comes Next

The accusations reflect a deepening triangular tension in Kerala politics — BJP attempting to hold both Congress and CPI-M simultaneously accountable, while Congress faces pressure to demonstrate its independence from the very party it defeated. Notably, this is not the first time the BJP has raised questions about the pace of the Kerala probe; similar concerns were voiced when the SIT was first constituted.

All eyes will now be on whether the SIT announces any concrete findings in the coming days, and whether Vijayan's High Court appeal results in a stay of proceedings that further complicates the investigation.