Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said neither he nor his party is taking seriously the Serious Fraud Investigation Office’s (SFIO) action against his daughter in the “illegal payment” scandal and that it does not affect him in any way.
Vijayan also said that he was aware the intention behind the move was to target him..
Responding to a series of questions on the matter, he remarked — “I know you want my blood, but you will not get it easily”.
“You can keep hoping for my resignation,” he said while answering queries on the issue by reporters during a press conference in the evening.
He said the SFIO case was in the court and it will be dealt with legally.
His remarks come amidst reports that the ED is preparing to register a case against Vijayan’s daughter, who is already facing a probe by the SFIO in the alleged “illegal payment” scandal.
There were also media reports that the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs has granted approval for prosecution proceedings against her in the SFIO case.
During the press conference, the CM said the media was ignoring the facts that income tax and GST was paid on the amounts received by his daughter’s IT firm from the private mining company CMRL.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
