“Politically motivated” raid at home of Keralam left leader sparks mass protests : Peoples Dispatch
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The left and opposition parties have termed the raid part of the political vendetta unleashed by the ultra-right-wing government, led by Narendra Modi against the country's opposition leaders and parties.

Protests broke out across India on Wednesday, May 27, following reports of a raid at Pinarayi Vijayan’s home in Thiruvananthapuram in India’s southern state of Keralam carried out by a federal agency.

Vijayan (81), a member of the polit bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and two-time chief minister of Keralam is currently the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

The farcical raids and the baseless allegations will crumble before the defiant spirit of the millions under the Red Flag. pic.twitter.com/wFOoIDyCpN

— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) May 27, 2026

Hundreds of people surrounded Vijayan’s house in the city protesting the raid. They shouted slogans against alleged misuse of security forces and federal agencies to intimidate and threaten Left leaders.

The protest in the national capital, Delhi, was led by CPI (M) general secretary M A Baby and other national leaders.

Security forces arrested Baby and other leaders, releasing them hours later. Eight other people were arrested in Keralam over allegations of violence against the state officials conducting the raid at Vijayan’s house.

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), a federal agency primarily concerned with financial frauds, raided Vijayan’s house in connection with an old case related to financial dealings between his daughters’ firm Exalogic Solutions (now defunct) and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), a private company between 2017 and 2021.

Vijayan and his daughter have denied any wrongdoing, claiming all the transactions between the two companies have been transparent and legal.

“Bogus case”

CPI (M) has termed the raids and repeated attempts to artificially revive the old case, despite the courts at several occasions making it clear that Vijayan has nothing to do with the said company, a deliberate attempt to malign the image of Vijayan and target opposition voices.

The Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central government has been accused of targeting opposition parties and misusing the federal agencies to frame orchestrated charges and book them under draconian laws. The Left has been targeted in particular by the right wing as it is also seen as an ideological challenge to the BJP’s Hindu supremacist ideology.

While addressing the protesters, Baby said that the raid at Vijayan’s house “was a politically motivated act of vendetta” and a witch hunt.

The Delhi police brutally repressed a protest by #CPIM leaders and workers against the ED raids at the residence of Polit Bureau member and former Kerala Chief Minister @pinarayivijayan
The police detained General Secretary @MABABYCPIM, Polit Bureau members Mariam Dhawale and… pic.twitter.com/Q2MLt4Vbge

— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) May 27, 2026

While addressing the media during the protests in Delhi, Brinda Karat, senior CPI (M) leader claimed that the charges against Vijayan are “bogus” and the raids were conducted in complete violation of all established legal procedures just to intimidate the Left.

However, “we are not the people to be intimidated, we are not people to be bullied, we do not care what ED does, the people of Keralam will give a fitting reply” to what is done to Vijayan and the Left, Brinda declared.

Both Baby and Karat claimed that the role of the state government, now led by the Indian National Congress (INC), the country’s main centrist opposition, is also questionable in the whole affair.

Left braves political attacks

Several other opposition parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and others have condemned the raid on Vijayan’s house, describing it as a political vendetta and political persecution.

“Such actions are aimed at intimidating the Left, targeting political opponents, and undermining the federal principle,” said D Raja, secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He also warned that the weaponization of federal agencies against “opposition ruled states and dissenting voices poses a serious threat to democracy and federalism.”

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government (2016-2026) in Keralam under Pinarayi’s leadership was credited for overall economic and social development of the state. It carried out extensive welfare programs with heavy investments in social sectors, such as health and public education. His government was also credited with eradicating extreme poverty from the state.

Nevertheless, it lost the election held earlier this month. The new centrist United Democratic Front (UDF) government, led by the INC, which otherwise is a part of a national alliance with the left against the Modi government, has unleashed opportunist attacks on the opposition for political reasons.

Members of the Keralam Student Union (KSU), an INC-affiliated student group, attacked and injured several cadres of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI (M), under police protection on Monday, after it lost the Keralam University Student Union elections to the SFI.

In protest, the SFI launched a state-wide movement against the KSU violence. These demonstrations were also attacked at various places by the police and security forces.

The SFI and left leaders accuse the INC of trying to marginalize opposition voices in the state by violence and intimidation in order to shield its government and in its larger attempts to establish itself as the sole alternative to the BJP nationally.

Left leaders have warned the INC to correct its ways or be ready to face more popular agitation in the coming days.

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