Socialist Janata (Democratic) president M.P. Veerendrakumar has denied the charge that he had tried to put pressure on his party to call off an agitation against the Coca Cola company.
Refuting the charge raised by K. Krishnankutty, who recently resigned as senior vice-president of the SJ(D), Mr. Veerendrakumar alleged the allegation stemmed from personal animosity.
In an interview to a TV channel, Mr. Krishnankutty had alleged that the cola company had offered Rs.2 crore to call off the agitation. The agitation was led by the SJ(D) in Palakkad district.
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In a statement, Mr. Veerendrakumar claimed he had not met anyone so far to seek support for the company. On the other hand, he had met many people to seek their support for the anti-Coca Cola agitation at Plachimada in Palakkad.
The SJ(D) had engaged lawyers to argue the case against Coca Cola in the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The case was pending before the Supreme Court.
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He had also appeared before a joint parliamentary committee to submit evidence against the company, which, his party had alleged, had been overexploiting water resources in its neighbourhood.
The Mathrubhumi newspaper, of which he was the chairman, had organised an international water convention at Plachimada against overexploitation of water resources.