By K P Pushparaj
Kozhikode, Jun 4 (UNI) Close on the heels of the debacle in the recent elections to Kerala assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to be facing its worst-ever predicament after a series of allegations of financial misdeeds involving top leaders surfaced in the media.
Adding salt to the injury was the a raid by the state vigilance police at the house of the party’s national vice-president A P Abdulla Kutty in Pallikkunnu in Kannur district on Friday.
The party has come under a cloud of suspicion over unaccounted money transactions that were exposed through the highway robbery case. It was on April 3 that a vehicle carrying the hawala money was waylaid by another gang and money looted at Kodakara.
The BJP has been dragged into the controversy that centered around the Kodakara hawala heist after one supporter stabbed another in Vadanappally in Thrissur the other day as a fallout of the robbery episode. The party has been accused of being the brain behind the hawala as it is alleged that the unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 3.5 crores were brought to Kerala for election campaigning.
Many local and district-level leaders of the party have already been quizzed by the state police in connection with the case. It is all likely that the fingers will be pointed at the state president K Surendran too.
The CPI(M)-led LDF Government can take this opportunity to corner the Surendran who had been tough with the previous Pinarayi Vijayan Government and had raised various allegations against its Ministers, the CPI(M) in particular.
Another expose has hit the BJP. Janadhipathya Rashtreeya Party (JRP) leader Praseela Azhikode has brought Surendran into the mud.
Releasing an audio clip in the social media, she has alleged that Surendran had given Rs 10 lakh to her party leader and adivasi leader CK Janu to force her to return to the NDA fold and contest from the Sulthan Bathery Assembly constituency.
In the purported conversation between Praseeda and Surendran, the latter is allegedly offering Rs 10 lakhs to Janu and asking Praseeda to convey to Janu to come to Thiruvananthapuram to collect the money from him on March 6. Apparently, the adivasi leader did join the NDA and contested from Bathery.
Adding to the woes of BJP, which was already facing the heat in connection with Kodakara heist case and C K Janu bribery scam was the unprecedented move by the state vigilance against A P Abdulla Kutty.
According to vigilance, the raid was in connection with a light and sound show held at Kannur fort in 2016. The BJP leader has been accused of financial irregularities in the purchase of equipment for organising the show at the fort as part of its renovation. The project was conceived and implemented by the DTPC when Abdullakutty was the MLA of Kannur.
Interestingly, the age-old project was being revisited to find fault with the project implementation.
The BJP is in a catastrophe as it not only failed to win seats in the election but also conceded the lone seat of Neman which it won in 2016. Even the fanfare election campaigning by its president K Surendran on the helicopter, who contested in two seats – Manjeswaram and Konni, could save the party from its pathetic performance in the April 6 elections.
The party has already been in trouble with factional feuds and a thinning majority in many constituencies compared to 2016. Now the coming days would tell if financial misdeeds can further tarnish the image of the BJP in Kerala.
UNI KP PS1915