TRIVANDRUM: Another controversy is rocking the communist government in the southern state of Kerala which had lost three ministers in a year caught in nepotism, sleaze and corruption scandals.

The opposition is now targeting health minister KK Shailaja who got the medical bills of his husband reimbursed certifying that he was “solely dependent” on her and is not employed.

The opposition says her husband K Bhaskaran, a pensioner, was the chairman of the Mattannur Municipality and had been occupying many offices of profit as a leader of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Following violent protests by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the State Secretariat, the seat of power here, on Friday, the minister’s office came out with an explanation that she was just following the precedence.

“She applied for the reimbursement of medical expenses under the existing rules that allows the ministers and their family members to make a claim,” a statement from her office said.

“This kind of allegations appear in the media with the sole intention of character assassination. It’s part of a conspiracy to tarnish the government’s image. I have not claimed reimbursement for any food bills.” However, the documents lawyer DB Binu received under the provisions of Right to Information Act show the bill she submitted on behalf of her husband included excessive food items at inflated prices.

The documents came out at a time when the proletarian leader was already being trolled for wearing glasses with a price tag of Rs28,000, that too at the expense of the exchequer.

“Her behaviour is even more condemnable at a time when the state exchequer is under severe stress, and welfare schemes are getting shelved,” Binu said.

“The chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asks the people to tighten belts, and the government is left with little money. Is this not applicable to the ministers?” Though the Congress-led main opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has mellowed, the BJP is aggressively seeking her resignation and organising demonstrations.

“She has misled the officials that her husband depended on her for sustenance while he was a government teacher and is receiving pension regularly,” said BJP president in the state, Kummanam Rajasekharan.