CPI-M General Secretary M.A. Baby and senior party leader Brinda Karat on Thursday, 28 May sharply condemned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids conducted at the homes and offices of party leaders — including former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan — calling the action “politically motivated” and an attempt to intimidate the Left leadership.

CPI-M's Core Charge Against the ED

“That is how the Enforcement Directorate behaves. They have carried out raids in nearly a dozen places,” Baby said, dismissing the searches as a targeted political exercise. Karat went further, alleging that the purpose of the raids was to “bully, intimidate, and humiliate a senior opposition leader like Pinarayi Vijayan.”

Karat also accused the ED of misrepresenting the public response to the raids, arguing that the agency had portrayed “spontaneous protests” across Kerala as a “planned assault” by Vijayan’s supporters. “Not only CPI-M leaders but leaders from other political parties also described the ED action as a blatant, politically motivated attack,” she added.

The Alleged Incident Outside Vijayan’s Residence

Protesters reportedly damaged an ED officer’s vehicle outside Vijayan’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram. Baby acknowledged that “some untoward things had happened” and called for an investigation, stressing: “It is not CPI-M’s approach to have a violent response to this kind of situation.”

Karat defended the demonstrators, saying that when a widely respected leader faces such action, “protests are bound to occur.” She argued that the spontaneous nature of the protest was itself evidence against a conspiracy: “If it had been a pre-planned attack, ED teams across Kerala would have faced similar incidents.” She described the ED’s framing of events as “misleading.”

Protests in Delhi and Subsequent Detentions

On Wednesday, the day following the raids, CPI-M cadre and leaders — including Baby and Karat — took to the streets in New Delhi to protest what they called an “illegal crackdown.” Delhi Police subsequently detained the demonstrators. The party alleged that the ED was being misused by the ruling dispensation to unfairly target Left leadership in Kerala.

War of Words Between CPI-M and Congress

The ED searches also ignited a political dispute between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and the Indian National Congress (Congress). Vijayan reportedly remarked that “Rahul Gandhi would now be happy,” a reference to the Congress leader’s repeated demands for ED action in the CMRL-Exalogic financial transactions case.

Karat hit out at both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and the Congress in Kerala, alleging that both parties were “trying to demean the CPI-M leadership.” She added: “CPI-M has faced many challenges in the past and would not bow to such cheap tactics.”

What Comes Next

The CPI-M has demanded an independent inquiry into the circumstances of both the raids and the protest incident outside Vijayan’s residence. The episode marks a sharp escalation in the Centre-Kerala political confrontation, and the party’s response — street protests, press conferences, and direct attacks on both the BJP and Congress — signals it intends to fight back on every front.