Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has accused Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan of having kept his links with serial actor Shalu Menon, whose name has been linked closely with the ‘solar scam’, and demanded his resignation now that details of his telephonic conversations with Ms. Menon had been revealed.
Mr. Achuthanandan alleged at a news conference here on Tuesday that Mr. Radhakrishnan was repeatedly uttering lies about his relationship with Ms. Menon.
Mr. Radhakrishnan, who had initially maintained that he did not know Ms. Menon, had now admitted that he knew her. His claim was that he had gone to attend her house-warming only because some party workers had stopped him on his way and asked him to visit her house. But Ms. Menon’s mother was on record that Mr. Radhakrishnan had attended the house-warming and spent two hours there.
The Home Minister, he alleged, was trying to destroy evidence and subvert the investigation. He was also taking the lead to destroy the photographs and video of the event.
Commitment of illegal deals, misuse of official positions, subversion of investigation in the case and repeated utterance of lies to mislead the people involved in the instant case all meant that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Mr. Radhakrishnan had no right to remain in office, Mr. Achuthanandan said. The Opposition Leader also sought urgent Central intervention to ensure that a comprehensive investigation was held into the irregularities at the Malappuram and Kozhikode passport offices.
