Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday asked Chief Minister V D Satheesan to respond to allegations that he received money from mining firm CMRL, a day after the party raised the issue.
In a Facebook post, Chandrasekhar said a purported CMRL diary raised the question whether Satheesan had also received money and claimed that the CM was bound to answer it.
He alleged that every Keralite would understand how a large amount was paid to Exalogic, a now-defunct IT company owned by Veena T, daughter of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, without providing any service.
"Daylight robbery took place there. A crime was committed. There are culprits behind the robbery. There is no doubt about it," he alleged.
The BJP leader also questioned why the Congress-led UDF government was not registering an FIR in the CMRL-Exalogic case involving Vijayan, his daughter Veena and son-in-law and former minister P A Mohammed Riyas, based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The ED has alleged that CMRL made fraudulent payments totalling Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.
Chandrasekhar's remarks came on the backdrop of the state government ordering a preliminary police inquiry, through a Crime Branch SIT, based on the ED report concerning alleged money-laundering transactions involving Vijayan, Veena and Riyas, instead of immediately registering an FIR or ordering a Vigilance probe.
The Keralam BJP chief asked what the Congress-Muslim League government's stand was on the Exalogic case and questioned whether its position was same as that of Rahul Gandhi, who had demanded that Vijayan be jailed.
"Like a fixed match, an active effort is being made to cover all this up," he alleged, adding that no FIR had been registered or Vigilance probe ordered despite the government having all the documents forwarded by the ED.
"Why is this happening? That is what the people of Keralam are asking. It is a completely legitimate question," he said.
BJP state vice-president Shone George on Thursday alleged that "payments" received by UDF and LDF leaders from CMRL had prevented the state government from ordering a Vigilance probe into allegations against Vijayan and his family.
George had shared on Facebook a page purportedly from a diary seized during the investigation into the affairs of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), claiming it contained details of payments to several UDF and LDF leaders, including Satheesan.
George had also alleged that the state police could not impartially investigate a case involving the chief minister and other political leaders and sought a CBI probe.
Leaders of both the ruling UDF and opposition LDF, however, denied on Thursday the BJP's allegations that they had received illegal payments from CMRL.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister V Muraleedharan on Friday rejected allegations against him cropping in connection with the document released by George.
Although the document released by George did not contain Muraleedharan's name, the issue soon created trouble for the BJP after another similar document surfaced in the media, carrying a similar name among those who allegedly received money from the mining company.
The purported document mentioned the name like "Mr Muraleedharan BJP".
Though the document did not specify which Muraleedharan it referred to, reporters sought a reaction from V Muraleedharan, who is also a former state president of the saffron party.
While talking to reporters here, he said he had not personally received money from anyone and said he welcomed any probe into the matter.
He alleged that the controversy was a deliberate attempt to divert public attention from major corruption issues.
Muraleedharan said he had served as the BJP state president for five years and did not use his personal money to run party activities. Party workers may have accepted donations and collected contributions from several people during that period, he said.
He said such collections need not necessarily have been made with the direct knowledge of the state president.
Responding to the purported document released by George, Muraleedharan said he had no information about it and had no responsibility for the document.
"I have no responsibility whatsoever regarding that document. I will not say anything about its authenticity," he said.
He also demanded the resignation of Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala in connection with the row.
