Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday demanded that the UDF govt reverse its decision to close the vigilance probe against chief minister V D Satheesan in connection with Punarjani project.Addressing a news conference at AKG Centre, Vijayan said govt gave the chief minister a clean chit, violating established norms.Vijayan said the allegations against Satheesan over funds collected for Punarjani, an initiative he launched after the 2018 floods, remain valid. He alleged that Punarjani functioned as a facade for Manappat Foundation, through which funds were collected. “Videos had surfaced showing Satheesan soliciting funds and giving assurances,” he claimed.Vijayan alleged that the complainants were not issued notices before the decision on the clean chit was taken.“Satheesan had a responsibility to explain why details of the project and the funds collected were kept under wraps,” he said. He also alleged that Satheesan had solicited funds abroad in violation of rules and had failed to provide a convincing explanation about the functioning of Punarjani and its fundraising activities.Vijayan said the previous LDF govt had not wanted to use the complaints against Satheesan as a political tool. “Vigilance had detected irregularities during the preliminary stage, but govt wanted the agency to gather more evidence before proceeding further,” he said.He alleged that home minister Ramesh Chennithala announced the decision to exonerate Satheesan without conducting any further investigation into the complaints.
