Daughter began business using wife’s retirement savings: Kerala CM

Vijayan made the remarks while speaking in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s address in the assembly

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that his daughter Veena T began her business venture in Bengaluru with the help of his wife’s retirement money and stressed that his hands were clean.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s remarks come in the backdrop of a probe initiated into alleged violations by Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, a firm owned by Veena, and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited, a Kochi-based minerals firm (PTI)

He made the remarks while speaking in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s address in the assembly.

The CM’s remarks come in the backdrop of a probe initiated by the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs into alleged violations by Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, a firm owned by Veena, and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), a Kochi-based minerals firm. The monthly payments to the tune of ₹1.72 crore from CMRL to Exalogic in a three-year period despite no services being rendered by Veena’s firm had been highlighted in a ruling by the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board last year.

“First there were allegations against my wife. Now, they have turned towards my daughter. The fact is that my daughter began her business venture in Bengaluru using money that my wife got after her retirement. ‘Go and start a business of your own, it can be a small venture,’ we told her. Therefore, when we hear such (allegations), I am not mentally troubled,” the CM said in the Assembly.

This was the chief minister’s first remarks about his daughter after the Centre initiated a probe.