Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that a section of the liquor lobby has attempted to topple the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in the State.
Speaking to journalists in Kozhikode on Thursday he said that the liquor barons had hatched a political conspiracy and that they were also behind the > testimony of solar scam accused Sarita. S. Nair before the judicial commission on Wednesday.
Mr. Chandy said that the same lobby had made several efforts to sabotage the bold decision of the government to close down bar hotels in the State. They thought they would secure a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court. Thus the plan to dislodge the government began after their defeat.
“Only a section of bar owners is behind this conspiracy. The government has obtained all details on this plot. The CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front has not been able to bring down the government. Now the Left coalition is attempting to overthrow the government as it feared that the Congress-led UDF will return to power again in the upcoming Assembly polls,” he said.
He said that opposition parties were after the statements of another solar scam accused Biju Radhakrishnan and now they felt humiliated. “Ms. Sarita herself has said that the CPI (M) had offered Rs 10 crore to bring down the government. But we never took up the issue,” he added.
The Chief Minister also dismissed the statements made by Sarita before the commission as “baseless.” She had earlier deposed before the courts after her arrest. “Two weeks ago, she told the commission that the Chief Minister was a father figure for her. When I deposed before the commission Ms. Sarita's counsel was also present. Then he never asked me any questions,” he said.
When asked whether ousted Chief Whip P.C. George was behind the allegations made by Ms. Sarita, the Chief Minister said that some people still attempted to do that.
