The Congress had raised a hue and cry when police officials had made an enquiry about the personal details of its vice-president Rahul Gandhi, but the party’s Kerala unit seems to think that it is perfectly all right to use the police force for surveillance on its allies in order to ensure the survival of the UDF Government it is heading.
Senior Congress leader and UDF convener PP Thankachan has triggered a controversy in the State by stating that the MlAs of certain front partners were under the observation of the Special Branch of the Kerala Police after it had been found that the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF had approached five MlAs of the ruling front in a bid to overthrow the Government.
“We have information that the lDF had approached five MlAs of the ruling front. The police’s Special Branch will be watching the allies closely,” Thankachan told a TV channel the other day. The UDF convener had a week ago said that the lDF had sent a messenger to the MlAs of certain UDF partners and that the Home Department had methods to learn about such matters.
Asked on the TV show whether the Government was using police for surveillance on MlAs, Thankachan said that it was the responsibility of the Special Branch to watch political developments. “The Special Branch will continue to observe (the MlAs),” he said. However, after the statement sparked off a controversy, he claimed that his statement had been distorted.
The reference of Thankachan’s statement was obviously to UDF partners RSP, which was an lDF constituent till March, 2014 and the JD(U), which together have five MlAs in the 140-member Assembly in which the UDF’s total strength is 73. The Government could fall if five MlAs switch sides.
The Janata Dal (United), formerly Socialist Janata (Democratic), came out strongly against Thankachan’s statement. “Nobody from the left has approached us. We don’t want anybody to question our political honesty,” said Varghese George, State secretary general of the JD(U). The statement was highly undemocratic and a serious violation of coalition ethics, he added.
Though the RSP has not officially responded to Thankachan’s statement, a senior leader of that party said that the Congress’s stand was unacceptable. “It seems that there is some substance in the theory that the Congress has a habit of viewing its allies with suspicion. That mentality is certain to create serious problems for the coalition,” he said.
As the UDF convener’s statement triggered a scandal, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress stated on Wednesday that no wing of the State police had been carrying out any sort of surveillance on MlAs. He claimed that even reports about Thankachan’s statement were baseless as he had already explained that the media had distorted what he had said.