A series of allegations against the BJP candidate for the Srirangam by-election has dampened the enthusiasm and spirit of party leaders and cadre in Tamil Nadu. Within hours of the announcement of the name of M Subramanian, the BJP candidate for the February 13 by-poll, local media went to town with allegations of his close association with late Premananda, a self-styled godman in Tiruchirappalli who had been sentenced and convicted in cases ranging from rape, murder, money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
Premananda, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1997, died in 2011 while serving the jail term. Subramanian was his close associate and had handled his all financial dealings. “It is an open secret that Subramanian had close links with Premananda, an accused in cases like money laundering, gun running and rape,” said a senior BJP activist from Srirangam.
Subramanian, who turned an educational entrepreneur after he came out of the Premananda fold, runs a private engineering college Oxford College of Engineering. “He started an engineering college by name Jayaram Engineering College with the intention of laundering Premananda’s money. Since then he never looked back. His contacts in the AIADMK and the DMK helped him to survive in times of adversities,” said the activist.
Even as charges of Subramanian’s links with god-man Premananda stirred a hornets’ nest, local TV channels and newspapers reported that the BJP candidate is an accused in a ‘criminal cheating case’. The Tiruchirappali Crime Branch has registered a cheating case against Subramanian. “He is alleged to have cheated Precision Informatics, a software company by refusing to pay Rs1.16 crore towards purchasing computers for his engineering colleges. The complainant alleged that Subramanian threatened him with dire consequences if he filed any complaint to the police,” said a person privy to incident.
Meanwhile, leaders in Tamil Nadu BJP revealed that the State leadership wanted to field film star Napoleon who recently joined the party from the DMK. “But this was opposed by Vijayakant, the DMDK chief. The central leadership had suggested the name of Aseervatham Achary, the 2G spectrum scam whistle blower for the bypoll. Though Aseervatham hailed from Srirangam, the State leadership of the BJP was not in favour of an “outsider” parachuting into the electoral scene,” said a BJP leader in Chennai.
Sarvothaman, the State secretary of the BJP, said there was nothing surprising in the allegations against Subramanian. “It is an old practice in Tamil Nadu to discredit and tarnish the image of the party candidate. Subramanian has a clean image and we have not come across any charges against him,” said Sarvothaman.
Though the BJP leadership claimed that the DMDK has promised its support to the BJP candidate, Vijayakanth is yet to issue any statements endorsing the name of Subramanian. The Tamil Nadu BJP is hoping that it could emerge as a viable alternative to the AIADMK and the DMK as both the Dravidian majors are not in the "best of health" following series of corruption cases against the top leadership.