Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s media adviser John Brittas appeared to have kicked up a political row ahead of the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against the government in the Assembly on August 24.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala on Friday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the “disclosure” by Mr. Brittas on Kairali television on Wednesday.
Mr. Brittas had claimed that a private builder had paid ₹4.5 crore as a kickback to bag the government contract to build 140 dwellings for homeless families in Vadakanchery in Thrissur under the Life Mission scheme, Mr. Chennithala said.
Protests planned
He said the United Democratic Front (UDF) activists would stage protests across the State on August 27 to the press the Opposition’s demand.
The UAE Red Crescent had sponsored the ₹20-crore project in July last at the behest of the State government.
Mr. Brittas had alleged the builder had delivered the bribe to a suspect in the UAE Consulate- linked gold smuggling case.
The accused had then handed over the bribe to a person who came to the transaction spot in a car bearing Embassy registration number plates, he alleged.
Mr. Chennithala said Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and Law Minister A.K. Balan had endorsed the statement by Mr. Brittas.
‘Contradictory statements’
He pointed out that the views of the trio were in variance with the stated position of the Chief Minister.
Mr. Vijayan had repeatedly claimed that there was no corruption in the deal.
However, Mr. Vijayan’s media adviser and two Cabinet Ministers had contradicted him.
Mr. Chennithala’s demand for a CBI inquiry came against the backdrop of reports that the Union Ministry of External Affairs had sought documents relating to receipt and use of the foreign aid.
The “unusual” demand had set off rumours that it might be a precursor of an anti-corruption or money laundering inquiry by a Central agency.
Mr. Chennithala alleged that Mr. Vijayan’s former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar had fast-tracked the deal at the behest of the Chief Minister’s Office.
Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the gold smuggling case, played a pivotal role in the procurement of the foreign aid and the awarding of work to the builder favoured by the State government, he claimed.
‘Warnings ignored’
Mr. Vijayan ignored the red flags raised by the Law Department. Its objections should have alerted them to the pitfalls in the deal, he said.
Life Mission had signed the memorandum of understanding with UAE Red Crescent and the private builder with undue haste.
The government offered the bid to execute the housing project to the private builder arbitrarily.
The government had passed the process of open and competitive bidding to favour the builder. In reciprocation, he paid Ms. Suresh ₹1 crore as a bribe, according to her statement in court.
Mr. Chennithala said the Chief Executive Officer of Life Mission, U. V. Jose, Mr. Sivasankar and Mr. Vijayan could not absolve themselves of the crime.