Kerala’s Congress party and the ruling UDF it leads on Friday vehemently defended Finance Minister KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M) whom the Vigilance had the other day booked for taking Rs1 crore as bribe from the State’s bar owners even as the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF declared that its agitations over the issue would not end until Mani resigned.
The Assembly witnessed pandemonium as a determined Opposition displayed banners and placards demanding Mani’s resignation and shouted slogans forcing Deputy Speaker N Sakthan to suspend proceedings several times and eventually to adjourn the House till Monday. The Opposition stalled proceedings several times by protesting in the Well.
A meeting of the parliamentary party of the Kerala Congress(M), the third biggest UDF consistent, decided to counter the allegations against Mani in total unity while Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala declared full support to the Finance Minister in the Assembly. Mani is the chairman of the Kerala Congress (M).
Outside the House, demonstrations were held demanding Mani’s resignation. The BJP took out a march to the State Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram. Inaugurating the march, State BJP president V Muraleedharan alleged that Mani was shamelessly clinging to the ministerial position. In Kochi, CPI(M)’s youth wing DYFI held a march raising the same demand.
The bar bribe scam started on October 31 with Biju Ramesh, working president of the Kerala Bar Hotels’ Association, alleging that Mani had demanded Rs5 crore from the bar owners and had taken Rs1 crore of it promising to help them in getting the licences renewed for the bars that were closed down on March 31 for lack of required facilities.
After a 41-day “quick verification” of the allegation, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Thursday registered an FIR over the case naming Mani as first accused based on “strong” witness statements and circumstantial evidences. Mani was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and charged with taking bribe and misuse of official position.
Biju has now made a fresh allegation against Mani that he had collected Rs 10 crore each as bribe from the State’s stone quarry-crusher operators and jewelry companies and an unspecified amount from bakers promising tax cuts in the Budget. He said those who had paid bribe to Mani would present solid evidence before the VACB if Mani stepped down as Minister.
In the Assembly, ruckus started at the very beginning of the day’s business on Friday. Moving notice for an adjournment motion on why Mani’s resignation was necessary, CPI(M) legislator K Suresh Kurup pointed out that the VACB would not be able to question Mani if he continued as Minister.
“An IAS officer and an IPS officer were just days ago suspended immediately after FIRs were registered against them in corruption cases. If that can be done, why is Mani being retained as MinisterIJ Are there different rules for different peopleIJ We can’t accept the manner in which law was taking the course of the Chief Minister and Finance Minister,” Kurup said.
Replying to the notice, the Home Minister said the Vigilance had not yet found Mani guilty of taking bribe. What the VACB had done was a quick verification and it has not examined whether there was any substance to the allegation. In such a situation, there is no need for Mani to resign,” Chennithala said. Chandy also toed this line of argument.
Participating in the discussion, Deputy Opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan pointed out that the VACB would have to seize the bribe money Mani had taken from bar owners and for this it would have to raid his offices and home. “Will this be possible if Mani continues as MinisterIJ Therefore Mani should resign,” he said.
A visibly upset Mani rose to speak only once and this speech was limited to two short sentences: “I reject the allegation. It is baseless.” At this, the ruckus reached its zenith with the Opposition members rushing to the Well.