Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 25 Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday asked Chief Minister V D Satheesan to respond to allegations of receiving money from mining firm CMRL, a day after the party raised the charge.
In a Facebook post, Chandrasekhar said a purported Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited diary had raised questions over whether Satheesan had also received money and claimed that the CM was bound to answer them.
He alleged that every Keralite would understand how a large amount was paid to Exalogic, a now-defunct IT company owned by Veena T, daughter of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, without any services being provided.
“Daylight robbery took place there. A crime was committed. There are culprits behind the robbery. There is no doubt about it,” he alleged.
The BJP leader questioned why the Congress-led UDF government had not registered an FIR in the CMRL-Exalogic case involving Vijayan, his daughter Veena and son-in-law and former minister P A Mohamed Riyas, based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate.
The ED has alleged that CMRL made fraudulent payments totalling Rs 2.78 crore to Veena’s now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.
Chandrasekhar’s remarks came a day after the state government ordered a preliminary police inquiry through a Crime Branch SIT into the alleged money-laundering transactions involving Vijayan, Veena and Riyas, based on the ED report, instead of immediately registering an FIR or ordering a Vigilance probe.
The Keralam BJP chief asked what the Congress-Muslim League government’s stand was on the Exalogic case and questioned whether it was the same as that of Rahul Gandhi, who had demanded that Vijayan be jailed.
“Like a fixed match, an active effort is being made to cover all this up,” he alleged, adding that no FIR had been registered or Vigilance probe ordered despite the government having received all the documents forwarded by the ED.
“Why is this happening? That is what the people of Keralam are asking. It is a completely legitimate question,” he said.
BJP state vice-president Shone George on Thursday alleged that “payments” received by UDF and LDF leaders from CMRL had prevented the state government from ordering a Vigilance probe into the allegations against Vijayan and his family.
George had shared on Facebook a page purportedly from a diary seized during the investigation into the affairs of CMRL, claiming it contained details of payments made to several UDF and LDF leaders, including Satheesan.
He alleged that the state police could not impartially investigate a case involving the CM and other political leaders and sought a CBI probe.
Leaders of both the ruling UDF and opposition LDF, however, denied on Thursday the BJP’s allegations that they had received illegal payments from CMRL.
Senior BJP leader and former Union minister V Muraleedharan on Friday rejected allegations against him arising from a document released by George.
Although the document released by George did not contain Muraleedharan’s name, the issue created trouble for the BJP after another similar document surfaced in the media, carrying a similar name among those who allegedly received money from the mining company.
The purported document mentioned a name resembling “Mr Muraleedharan BJP”.
As the document did not specify which Muraleedharan it referred to, reporters sought a reaction from V Muraleedharan, who is also a former state president of the BJP.
Talking to reporters here, he said he had not personally received money from anyone and welcomed any probe into the matter.
He alleged that the controversy was a deliberate attempt to divert public attention from major corruption issues.
Muraleedharan said he had served as BJP state president for five years and had not used his personal money to run party activities. Party workers may have accepted donations and collected contributions from several people during that period, he said.
He said such fund collections need not necessarily have been made with the direct knowledge of the state president.
Responding to the purported document released by George, Muraleedharan said he had no information about it and no responsibility for the document.
“I have no responsibility whatsoever regarding that document. I will not say anything about its authenticity,” he said.
He demanded the resignation of Keralam CM Satheesan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala in connection with the row.
Later in the day, Chandrasekhar extended his support to Muraleedharan and alleged that the senior leader’s name was being deliberately dragged into the controversy to divert public attention from the alleged Exalogic scam.
In a fresh Facebook post, the BJP state president said targeting Muraleedharan and dragging his name into the debate was a “deliberate attempt” by the CPI(M) and Congress to divert attention from the Exalogic issue.
“At the time, V Muraleedharan was neither a minister nor a member of Parliament or the Assembly. He has also denied the reports that have now surfaced,” Chandrasekhar said.
“I want to make it clear that our party stands with Muraleedharan. It is clear that targeting him is a deliberate move to divert attention from the Exalogic case,” he added.
(PTI News)
