Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) government faced more embarrassment on Tuesday as the Opposition trained its guns on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and five of his ministers who are facing allegations of corruption.
The new allegations come amid a heated discussion in the state about the bribery allegation against Finance Minister K.M. Mani that was raised by the liquor bar association.
Following a fresh allegation by Biju Ramesh, the working president of the liquor bar association, on Monday that three Congress ministers, including Excise Minister K. Babu, too, took bribes, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan demanded Babu’s resignation.
The excise minister denied the allegation, and accused Ramesh of “joining hands with the Opposition to sabotage the government”.
Besides these three ministers and Kerala Congress (M) leader K.M. Mani, a fifth minister was also dragged into bribery allegations. Legislator K.B. Ganesh Kumar alleged that Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju was also corrupt. Kunju, however, denied the allegation.
With bribery allegations against five ministers in the Chandy government, the CPM leader demanded that the excise minister be removed from the cabinet and a probe be ordered against him. Vijayan said Babu was “only a proxy” and that the chief minister ought to take the blame for the bribery allegations.
When Chandy, who is currently in the UAE, returns to the state, he is likely to find the political situation murkier than when he left the state earlier this week. In addition, he has to take a call on Mani’s request to strip his party colleague P.C. George of the post of government chief whip. George has been a thorn in the flesh for Mani and the Kerala Congress (M) party, and there is speculation that George may revive the Kerala Congress (Secular) party if the shows him the door.
Chandy, too, is facing the heat as fresh evidence has surfaced regarding his alleged meeting with Saritha Nair, one of the prime accused in the solar power scam. Nair and her business partner Biju Radhakrishnan are accused of defrauding investors several millions or rupees after assuring them handsome returns on investments in the solar power sector.
