Monday, Jun 17, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala assembly resounded Monday morning with Opposition calls for chief minister Oommen Chandy to resign, following reports of the involvement of his staff in the solar plant scam, and shortly thereafter, the suspected kingpin of the scam, Biju Radhakrishnan, was taken into custody from Coimbatore.
The morning, however, proved a tough political battle for the ruling United Democratic Front to fight as the Opposition pressed for nothing short of chief minister Oommen Chandy’s resignation.
Following Opposition ruckus for the CM’s resignation, the question hour for the day had to be cancelled.
The solar scam involves Biju Radhakrishnan and his wife Sarita S Nair running a con scheme promising handsome returns from investments in solar power plants and windmills, and duping several investors worth millions of rupees.
The duo had repeatedly been in touch with chief minister Chandy’s personal assistant Tenny Joppan and gunman Salim Raj, forcing the government to expel both from their services in the chief minister’s office.
The mood of the Opposition benches was clear from the morning as they arrived with placards demanding Chandy’s resignation.
Responding to the Opposition’s allegations, Chandy said he had indeed met Biju Radhakrishnan at the Kochi government guest house, after Congress leader M I Shanawaz had fixed that appointment. Shanawaz had told the CM that an executive from a company had wanted to meet him.
Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan said the Opposition Left Democratic Front will continue its protests inside and outside the assembly until a judicial inquiry was ordered into the incident and Chandy tendered his resignation. Achuthanandan alleged that Chandy was merely repeating what he had already said, and evading the key allegations against him.
“It is a scam worth Rs1 billion (Dh63.4m). The CM should not think he can get away by misleading the assembly,” Achuthanandan said.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India cadres held marches to the state assembly in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, demanding the resignation of the chief minister. The rally in the state capital turned violent, and police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protestors.
Biju Radhakrishnan was taken into custody from Coimbatore, reportedly when he was attempting to sell his laptop.
In a new revelation, police suspect that he may have murdered his first wife. The two children in his first marriage are now being looked after by their maternal grandparents.
In a related development, actress Shalu Menon, whose name has been associated with Biju Radhakrishnan, denied any links with Radhakrishnan and Nair, as well as reports that she had gone into hiding. She said in Kottayam that she was innocent and was not a partner in Team Solar, the company of Radhakrishnan and Nair.
By Akhel Mathew Correspondent
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
