The Congress-Kerala Congress (M) [KC(M)] relations hit a sour note on Wednesday over the manner in which the allegations against Ministers in the Oommen Chandy government were being handled when it came to conducting inquiries and filing cases.
KC(M) leaders went on the offensive with Finance Minister K.M. Mani expressing his strong resentment at the manner in which a first information report (FIR) was filed against him in the bar licence bribery case.
In an interview to a television channel, Mr. Mani said the FIR was unnecessary and the government was not morally or legally bound to take such an action.
Taking cue from Mr. Mani, party general secretary Antony Raju termed as “double standards” the government decision to single out his party leader and let off Congress Ministers who are under a cloud without an inquiry. He said a quick verification was ordered against Mr. Mani and subsequently an FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint by Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan. It is significant that it was Mr. Achuthanandan who had filed another set of complaint against three Congress Ministers.
Government stance
The government has not ordered any inquiry hanging by specious arguments that a Vigilance probe was irrelevant as there was no clarity in the evidence submitted. Government sources said that the KC(M)’s charges of discrimination in filing cases were totally off the mark. The nature of allegations in the two cases was highly dissimilar.
The Opposition leader had based his complaint on the allegations made in the media by hotelier Biju Ramesh.
Allegations
The allegations were made by an individual and had details of the bribe such as its purpose, the amount given, place where it was given, and the participants in the deal. This was the background for ordering a quick verification.
In the case of allegations against Excise Minister K Babu and other Ministers, the Opposition leader had submitted a CD along with his complaint.
A KC(M) leader terms as “double standards” the government decision to single out his party leader and let off Congress Ministers who are under a cloud without an inquiry
