Kerala BJP claims Swapna, CM's daughter are friends

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 16 (IANS) Hitting back at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for calling state BJP President K Surendran as someone with an unsound mind, BJP spokesperson Sandeep Warrier said on Wednesday that gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh and the CM's daughter Veena are "friends".

"We challenge Vijayan to release an unedited video of Veena's second marriage held at the Cliff House here," said Warrier. Veena married CPI-M youth wing leader Mohammed Riaz in June.

"Swapna has close relations with Vijayan's family. Wish to know from which shop was the furniture for her flat purchased. The cat will come out of the bag if Veena, her husband Riaz, and Swapna are quizzed together," said Warrier.

After Surendran alleged that more skeletons would tumble out about relations between Veena and Swapna if the Chief Minister's daughter was questioned, Vijayan on Tuesday claimed that the BJP leader had some mental issues and that his party leadership should do something about his frequent outbursts.

State BJP General Secretary MT Ramesh said Vijayan's remarks against Surendran clearly showed that it was the CM who needed treatment.

"Vijayan need not worry about Surendran. We however wish to request the CPI-M to see to it that Vijayan is calmed down. He is jittery ever since the gold smuggling case surfaced. He is losing his cool and is issuing threats...," Ramesh added.