Kerala's Congress-led UDF Government, already under fire over the infamous solar power scam, fell into a fresh crisis on Thursday after it was revealed that con woman Saritha S Nair, the main player behind the scam, had been in telephonic contact with several Ministers in the Oommen Chandy Cabinet, Congress MlAs, members of the Union Government and top Congress leaders.
The appearance of Saritha's call lists in the media on Thursday sowed anxiety, chaos and feud in the State Cabinet with Congress Ministers protesting to Chief Minister Chandy about the humiliating leakage forcing him to immediately order an inquiry into it by the Additional DGP (Intelligence) even as sources said that what had come out now was just the tip of an iceberg.
The call list came out on Thursday at a time when Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan of the Congress is facing the charge of calling Saritha from his own phone. Saritha has already done enough damage to the Government as the con woman misused the CM's office to promote her bogus solar power business with the help of Chandy's trusted former aides.
The Chief Minister himself is facing furious Opposition stir calling for his resignation for knowingly or unknowingly permitting his office to be misused by his aides for promoting the fraudulent business of Saritha and her fraudster ex-husband Biju Radhakrishnan. Chandy had admitted to meeting Biju once and he is accused of meeting Saritha at Delhi last year.
Those who were in telephonic contact with Saritha included PCC president Ramesh Chennithala, Union Ministers KC Venugopal and Kodikkunnil Suresh, State Ministers Aryadan Muhammad, P Anil Kumar, KC Joseph, Adoor Prakash, PK Jayalakshmi (all Congress), MK Muneer (Muslim league) and Shibu Baby John (RSP-B) and Congress MP MI Shanavas.
Several of the Ministers and others, who had never cared to admit that Saritha had called them or that they had called her when arguments were raging in the Assembly and outside over the scandal, on Thursday came forward with explanations and excuses for being in telephonic contact with Saritha.
Home Minister Thiruvanchoor said he had called Saritha on May 23 - when his own police were searching for her - after he saw a missed call in his mobile. "I didn't know it was Saritha Nair," he said but could not explain why he, who had replied to at least five adjournment motions on the scam in the Assembly, had never revealed this fact.
"I haven't called her. Many people would call me. Just check whether I had returned the calls," was how State Congress chief Chennithala reacted to the call list leak. Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and young Congress MlA Hybi Eden said they had called her to ask her to return the money she had taken from some people in the name of her bogus business.
"What is strange is that none of these leaders, in some way or the other duty-bound to report to the police about her activities, never bothered to do that - not even the Home Minister himself," said a senior Congress leader, according to whom, the recent developments including the list leakage were part of the intense group war going on in the State Congress.