Pinarayi Vijayan breaks silence on ED raid, slams Centre for 'political targeting'
Synopsis
Two days after the ED raided his Thiruvananthapuram home, Pinarayi Vijayan went on the offensive — accusing the Centre of using federal agencies as political weapons and taking a swipe at Congress for selective outrage. But he confirmed his daughter Veena's bank account has been frozen and stayed conspicuously silent on the substance of the CMRL-Exalogic probe.
Key Takeaways
Pinarayi Vijayan broke his silence on 29 May 2025 , two days after an ED raid at his Thiruvananthapuram residence.
He accused the Centre of deploying the ED as a political tool against non- BJP governments and opposition leaders.
He also attacked Congress for selectively supporting agency action, citing cases involving Arvind Kejriwal and M.K.
Vijayan confirmed that one bank account of Veena Vijayan , his daughter, has been frozen by the ED.
He disclosed that ED officials did not question him during the raid at his residence.
Vijayan declined to comment on the substance of the CMRL-Exalogic financial transactions case under investigation.
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Friday, 29 May publicly broke his silence over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid conducted at his rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram two days prior, accusing the Centre of weaponising federal investigative agencies against non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments and opposition leaders nationwide. It was his first direct political response since the ED search took place with him present at the premises.
Vijayan's Charge Against the Centre
Speaking to media at the Kerala Legislative Assembly following Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's policy address, Vijayan appeared visibly uncomfortable as reporters steered questions away from Assembly proceedings toward the ED searches. The former Chief Minister alleged that the agency was being deployed as a political instrument rather than an independent investigative body.
'Action is being taken against non-BJP governments. ED is being used as a tool against political adversaries,' Vijayan said, explicitly framing the raid as part of a national pattern rather than an isolated Kerala matter.
Sharp Words for Congress Too
Vijayan did not spare the Indian National Congress (Congress) either, accusing the party of selectively endorsing ED interventions based on political convenience. 'Congress supports such actions when they are not targeted and wants these agencies to be used against their own opponents like Arvind Kejriwal and M.K. Stalin,' he said — a pointed attempt to widen the political fault lines beyond a BJP-versus-Left binary.
He further argued that the escalating use of central agencies against opposition figures ran contrary to the democratic conventions India had upheld historically.
What He Said — and Did Not Say — About the Probe
Vijayan remained guarded on the specifics of the ongoing investigation, which centres on his daughter Veena Vijayan and allegedly irregular financial transactions involving CMRL-Exalogic. He confirmed that 'one bank account of Veena has been blocked', but declined to elaborate on the substance of the allegations or the evidence under examination.
He also disclosed that ED officials did not question him during the raid at his residence — a detail that underscores the probe's current focus on Veena Vijayan's financial dealings rather than the former Chief Minister directly.
Political Fallout in Kerala
Friday's appearance marked a calculated shift in Vijayan's public posture — from silence to political offence. By broadening the narrative to a pan-India agency-misuse argument, he sought to recast the ED action as part of a larger democratic concern rather than a case-specific legal matter. This comes amid intense political turbulence in Kerala, where the probe has already unsettled the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led opposition's standing ahead of the next assembly cycle.
Notably, Vijayan carefully avoided any substantive engagement with the allegations themselves, a posture that critics argue leaves the core questions unanswered. Whether his political counter-offensive shifts the public conversation away from the financial probe remains to be seen.
Point of View
And make the agency the story rather than the allegation. The tactic has worked before in Indian politics, but it carries a risk: the CMRL-Exalogic probe involves verifiable financial transactions, and his conspicuous silence on the substance will be noticed. The confirmation that Veena Vijayan's bank account has been frozen is a concrete legal development that no amount of 'selective targeting' rhetoric fully neutralises. More broadly, the ED's expanding footprint across opposition-governed states is a legitimate governance concern — but that argument lands with less force when the person making it has a direct family stake in the outcome of the very probe in question.
NationPress
14 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the ED raid Pinarayi Vijayan's residence?
The ED conducted a raid at Vijayan's rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram as part of an investigation into alleged irregular financial transactions involving his daughter Veena Vijayan and a company called CMRL-Exalogic. The raid took place two days before his public statement on 29 May 2025.
What did Pinarayi Vijayan say about the ED raid?
Vijayan accused the Centre of using the ED as a political weapon against non-BJP governments and opposition leaders. He also criticised Congress for selectively endorsing agency action, and confirmed that one of Veena Vijayan's bank accounts had been frozen, but declined to address the specifics of the probe.
Was Pinarayi Vijayan questioned by the ED during the raid?
No. Vijayan disclosed that ED officials did not ask him any questions during the raid at his residence, suggesting the investigation's current focus is on the financial dealings of his daughter Veena Vijayan rather than on him directly.
What is the CMRL-Exalogic case?
The CMRL-Exalogic case involves allegedly controversial financial transactions linked to Veena Vijayan, daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan. The ED is examining these transactions as part of a broader financial probe, and has frozen at least one of Veena Vijayan's bank accounts in connection with the investigation.
What is the political significance of Vijayan's statement?
The statement marks Vijayan's shift from silence to active political pushback, framing the ED action as part of a nationwide pattern of agency misuse against opposition figures. It signals that the probe has moved beyond a legal matter into the centre of Kerala's political confrontation ahead of the next assembly cycle.
