Case filed against Kerala BJP chief for ‘bribing’ poll candidate

Sundara, who stood from the Mancheswaram seat against Surendran alleged last week that he was paid ₹2.5 lakh to withdraw his candidature.

Kerala Police on Monday registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief K Surendran for allegedly bribing Independent candidate, K Sundara to withdraw his candidature from the Manjeswaram constituency ahead of the recent state elections, following a court directive.

The BJP said it will challenge the decision in a higher court. (TWITTER.)

Sundara, who stood from the Mancheswaram seat against Surendran alleged last week that he was paid ₹2.5 lakh to withdraw his candidature. He later pulled out of the political contest. IUML’s AKM Ashraf eventually won the seat.

The CPI(M) candidate, V V Ramesan had moved Kasaragod magistrate court which on Monday directed the police to register a case against him. Police later said the BJP leader will be booked under Section 17I B of the Indian Penal Code and other sections. If convicted, the offender will get one- year jail term and five- year suspension from contesting elections.

However, the BJP said it will challenge the decision in a higher court. “There is a concerted move to target the party and its leaders in Kerala. Both the ruling CPI(M) and opposition Congress have joined hands. Some of the recent allegations are part of this virulous campaign,” said party leader A N Radhakrishnan in Kochi.

Kerala police on Sunday recorded the statement of K Sundara. “We have recorded the statement of Sundara. He said he was threatened by the BJP workers to withdraw the nomination papers. Also, he said he was offered money and that he had accepted it,” the police told news agency PTI.

Sundara has hailed the decision of the court and said he was ready to depose against the BJP leader. Both the CPI(M) and Congress also welcomed the court decision.

“I will take the case to its logical end. Enough money had flown in Mancheswaram during the poll. I will expose the corrupt practices of the BJP,” said V V Ramesan.

“The money trail shows the BJP wanted to grab some seats by hook to crook. People of the state have shown again that Kerala is not fertile for saffron forces. We welcome the decision of the court,” said Congress leader, Shafi Parambhil.

Interestingly, in 2016 assembly elections also Sundara contested but he got 467 votes while Surendran lost the seat by a slender margin of 89 votes. He said this time the BJP was more alert and many leaders from Karnataka pressurised him to withdraw from the election. After withdrawing his nomination, he campaigned for Surendran. But the state president lost the May poll by a bigger margin of 745 votes to IUML’s Ashraf.