Kerala’s bar scam has got hotter with bar owners deciding to remain firm in the allegation that Finance Minister KM Mani, seniormost member of the Congress-led UDF Cabinet, had taken Rs1 crore as bribe from them and to produce evidences for this before the investigators, deepening the credibility crisis arising out of the scandal for the UDF and its Government.
A meeting of the Kerala Bar Hotels Association’s executive committee in Kochi on Thursday decided not to succumb to political or Governmental pressures in the bribery issue. It declared total support to association working president Biju Ramesh who had accused Mani of taking bribe promising to get licences renewed for the 418 bars remaining closed sinceMarch 31.
As per the association’s decision, Biju would appear before the Vigilance officials probing the charge against Mani on Friday and hand over evidences to support his charge. Association president D Rajkumar Unni said the bribery charge was not just against Mani but the names of all top men who had taken money would be presented before the public with evidences.
Unni said that a five-member committee headed by the association’s general secretary had been constituted for collecting evidences against all “top men” who had taken bribes. Most of the delegates at the meeting argued that there was no need to protect those who had cheated them after taking their money promising help to reopen the closed bars.
The association president made it clear that the bar owners were not prepared to subject themselves to the pressures of the Government or to soften the allegation. The meeting also decided not to seek reconciliation with the Government unless and until clear indications came from it that it would take measures to allow the reopening of the closed bars.
The bar owners’ threat created panic in UDF circles instantly. Shaken by the unexpected development, Congress leaders came out with the argument that political parties and leaders used to take money from several people as donations during elections and that such payments could not be considered as bribery, suggesting that Mani could have taken money from bar owners.
“Elections are a costly affair these days. It is normal for political leaders and parties to take donations during elections. Only rich people like bar owners can give such donations. You can’t say whether such acts are right or wrong. However, I am not saying that Mani has taken money from the bar owners in this way,” said a senior Congress leader.
As per the allegation made by Biju Ramesh on October 31, Mani, also law Minister and chairman of the Kerala Congress(M), third biggest constituent of the UDF, had demanded Rs5 crore to help the bar owners in getting the licences renewed for the 418 bars lying closed for lack of facilities. Biju said Mani was paid Rs1 crore but he had done nothing to reopen the bars.
Mani's party and UDF leaders, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, defended him by describing the allegation as a lie. KC(M) vice-chairman and Government Chief Whip PC George alleged that the charge against Mani was part of a conspiracy hatched by the Congress’s ‘A’ group headed by Chandy and that this could not have taken place without his knowledge.
As demands for a fair probe into the allegation and for resignation of Mani intensified, the Government ordered a “quick verification” of the charge by the Vigilance based on a letter Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan wrote to the Vigilance Director.