Kerala’s Congress-led UDF Government is planning to let the CBI investigate the infamous solar scam instead of the current Kerala Police probe in order to somehow mollify the Opposition, which is on a relentless agitation demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, and to keep the scam-accused Ministers and leaders in the Congress and coalition calm.
However, the CPI(M)-led lDF Opposition on Sunday announced that it would oppose the move and stick to its original demands — Chandy’s resignation and a judicial probe into the scam — making it clear that the remainder of the Monsoon Session of the State Assembly, which would resume on Monday after a two-week break, would be stormy.
Opposition leader in the Assembly VS Achuthanandan and his deputy Kodiyeri Balakrishnan asserted that they held fast to their demands. “We will continue our agitation in the Assembly and outside demanding Chandy’s resignation,” Kodiyeri said. He warned that the Congress bid to suppress leftist protests using Youth Congress workers would lead to street war.
The Government’s decision is not to oppose a public interest litigation seeking CBI probe into the scam, which is scheduled to come up in the High Court on Monday. Chief Minister Chandy has already held discussions with the Advocate General in this regard. The Government thinks that there will be a directive for a CBI probe from the court itself in the absence of objections.
The Government is planning to counter the Opposition demand for judicial probe with the argument that it is in favour of a CBI probe. But the Opposition holds that the preparatory proceedings for a CBI probe could take a long time during which evidences in the case, in which Chandy is alleged to have been involved, could be destroyed.
Adopting some step to create a feeling that the Government is serious in probing the scam has become necessary for Chandy after last week's leakage of documents which proved the links between con woman Saritha S Nair, main perpetrator of the scam, and Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, some other Ministers and several Congress MlAs and leaders.
The Home Minister, DGP KS Balasubramaniam, ADGPs TP Senkumar (Intelligence) and A Hemachandran, heading the special Kerala Police team probing the scam presently, had told the Chief Minister the other day that the current police investigation was credible but he felt that handing over the case to the CBI would be more effective strategically.
However, the Opposition said that instead of trying to hand over the probe to the CBI, a case should be registered against Chandy in the solar scam on the basis of the statement in court by Sreedharan Nair, who had given Rs 40 lakh to Saritha Nair in the presence of Chandy's (former) aide Tenny Joppen at the office of the CM after meeting him as part of a fraudulent deal.
“Keep no hope that you can save yourselves by recommending a CBI probe,” CPI(M) central committee member TM Thomas Isaac MlA warned Chandy on Sunday. “Any probe being held while Chandy is continuing as Chief Minister will not be able to bring out the truth,” Isaac said.
To add to the worries of Chandy and his associates, the problems within the groupism-ridden Congress have grown worse after the leakage of the call data records for Saritha's phone which showed that she had been in telephonic contact with almost all the bigwigs in the Government and the party, including Thiruvanchoor and State Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala.
Almost the entire party leadership is convinced that the CDRs were leaked by the police at the instruction of Home Minister Thiruvanchoor who was desperate in his bid to defend himself against allegations of shielding the scam’s perpetrators like actress Shalu Menon, whom the police arrested on Friday.