Kerala Revenue Minister and senior Indian National Congress (INC) leader A.P. Anil Kumar on Thursday, 29 May 2025, launched a sharp attack on former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for singling out Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — rather than Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Centre — in the wake of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid at Vijayan's Thiruvananthapuram residence. The remarks escalated an already volatile political standoff in Kerala following the ED searches linked to the CMRL-Exalogic financial transactions case involving Vijayan's daughter T. Veena.

Anil Kumar's Broadside Against Vijayan

The trigger for Anil Kumar's remarks was a statement Vijayan made shortly after the ED team completed its searches on Wednesday, in which the former Chief Minister said 'Rahul Gandhi would now be happy' — a reference to Gandhi's repeated public questions over why the ED had not acted against Vijayan in the CMRL-Exalogic case.

Anil Kumar hit back forcefully. 'Why is Pinarayi Vijayan not uttering a single word against Prime Minister Modi while targeting Rahul Gandhi? He has always shown a certain fear towards PM Modi, and that was visible again yesterday,' the minister said. He alleged that across Vijayan's nearly decade-long tenure as Chief Minister, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader consistently avoided a direct confrontation with the Prime Minister, even as he attacked opposition parties within Kerala.

Violence Outside Vijayan's Residence

The political row unfolded against a backdrop of alleged violence: CPI(M) workers are accused of attacking ED officials and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel as they were leaving Vijayan's residence after completing the searches. The incident drew immediate condemnation and triggered a high-level security review.

On Thursday, State Police Chief DGP Ravada Chandrasekhar held a closed-door meeting with Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and two other senior police officials to review the attack and assess security arrangements during the ED operation.

Police Response and Arrests

Following the meeting, police officials stated that strict action would be taken if any lapse was found among the 300 police personnel deployed outside Vijayan's residence during the violence. DGP Chandrasekhar confirmed that eight people had been arrested in connection with the attack, with efforts ongoing to identify and detain the remaining accused.

He also clarified that the Centre had not sought a separate report from Kerala Police on the violence, despite the involvement of ED officials and central security personnel. Investigators are now examining video footage and eyewitness accounts to establish how the attack unfolded and whether there were failures in crowd control or security coordination.

Chief Minister Satheesan's Silence

Notably, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, who was on a visit to Kozhikode on Thursday, maintained silence on both the ED raid and the subsequent violence despite repeated questions from the media. His reticence has drawn attention given the scale of the political and law-enforcement fallout from the searches.

This is among the most significant deployments of a central investigative agency against a former Kerala chief minister's household, and the political reverberations — cutting across the Congress-CPI(M) rivalry — are expected to deepen as the investigation progresses.