Kodakara revelations prove BJP-CPI(M) nexus in Kerala, says Opposition Leader

State protected K. Surendran in Manjeswaram election bribery case, says V.D. Satheesan

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said a deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], as claimed by the Congress much earlier, has been proved right through various recent incidents and that the revelations by former BJP worker Tirur Satheesh in connection with the Kodakara money-laundering case only confirmed it.

Speaking to reporters in Kozhikode on Friday (November 1, 2024), Mr. Satheesan said the Kerala Police that investigated the case of money snatching carefully hid the details about the origin and the destination of the money.

Despite the case coming under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Kerala government has made no move to rope in the Central agencies, he said, adding that the State had also “done its best to protect” K. Surendran, the BJP State president, in the Manjeswaram election bribery case.

“Our allegation of the CPI(M)-BJP nexus is proving right through several instances, such as the ADGP (M.R. Ajith Kumar) meeting with RSS leaders and the police deliberately sabotaging the Thrissur Pooram proceedings”, Mr. Satheesan said.

On the death of Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu, Mr. Satheesan said the State is “leaving no stone unturned to protect the accused”, former Kannur district panchayat president P.P. Divya.

“The Collector’s statement that Naveen Babu was repentant of his act, was made after he met with the Chief Minister. His earlier reports had no such mention”, he said, appreciating the media for “sabotaging” the attempts to put the deceased in a bad light through fake documents.

Mr. Satheesan said the BJP and the CPI(M) fielding namesake candidates against the Congress candidate Rahul Mankoottathil in the Palakkad byelection and not competing against each other was also “a proof of the nexus” between the two parties.

‘This is not Stalin’s Russia’

He also questioned the State government’s “tendency to book cases against all online media” that criticised it, alleging an attempt to create riot. “This is not Stalin’s Russia. Is the State above criticism? Is Kerala under dictatorship? This is so undemocratic”, he said adding that even mainstream media is being targeted in the same way.

Published - November 01, 2024 01:51 pm IST