Rumours are rife in the political circles of Kerala to the effect that the controversies related to the political connections of con woman Saritha S Nair, chief perpetrator of the infamous solar scam, may contribute to a change of Government in the State after the declaration of results of the 16th lok Sabha election.
Sources in the Congress say that a high-level internal enquiry of the State Congress into the entire Saritha Nair episode may be launched immediately after the counting of votes for the lok Sabha polls and that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy may “naturally and automatically” come in its focus. Such an enquiry could lead to even a change of Government in the State, they say.
The reported plan is to investigate Saritha’s alleged connections with senior Congress leaders belonging to both the ‘I’ group led by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and its rival ‘A’ group headed by Chandy, how she had come into contact with them and who all had played behind the screen in the matter.Such a probe, sources say, will be launched on the particular interest of VM Sudheeran, the group-neutral State Congress president, and it will have all the blessings of Defence Minister AK Antony. The assumption that forms its basis is that the script of the Saritha episode was prepared with the knowledge of Chandy and with the intention of trapping leaders of the ‘I’ group.
The theory is that those close to Chandy in the ‘A’ group had wanted to avoid all kinds of threats to his continuance as Chief Minister in the context of the stiff challenges offered at that time by the ‘I’ group. The holders of this theory argue that Saritha’s repeated statements on Chandy’s innocence in the entire solar scam should be seen in this context.
A strong section in the Congress believes that the denials the Chief Minister has consistently offered whenever allegations have been raised on the connection between his office and Saritha should also be seen in this context as he himself had expelled two of his closest aides in the name of their links with her and a third had quit his office on his own.“Chandy had for a long time held that he had not even known Saritha Nair and that he had never met her. But he changed that stand just before a photograph appeared in the media showing him as listening to Saritha intently during a public programme at Kadaplamattom in Kottayam. Such evidences will be of immense significance in such a probe,” said a top Congress leader.
Talks about a probe into Saritha’s alleged links with Congress leaders are being heard in the Congress after AICC secretary Shanimol Usman demanded an inquiry into the con woman’s relationship with Union Minister KC Venugopal. “However, the decision for a comprehensive probe seems to have been taken much earlier,” said the leader.
Group-neutral Congress leaders say that there are several mysteries in the solar scam and that the judicial commission probing it cannot unravel all of them. The Saritha affair has much to do with the group war between Chandy and Chennithala just as how the ISRO spy case was allegedly used by “some forces” in 1995 to ensure the fall of then chief minister K Karunakaran, they say.
Sources also say that a terrible setback for the Congress and the ruling UDF in the State in the lok Sabha election may increase the possibilities of replacement of Chandy, who has repeatedly stated that this election is also a referendum on the performance of his Government, as Chief Minister.