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Fresh case against Kerala BJP chief for bribing tribal leader
Thiruvananthapuram: In fresh trouble for Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Surendran, a Wayanad court on Wednesday directed Kerala Police to register a case against him for allegedly bribing tribal leader C K Janu to remain in the National Democratic Alliance and contest from Sultan Bathery constituency in the April 6 assembly elections
Thiruvananthapuram: In fresh trouble for Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Surendran, a Wayanad court on Wednesday directed Kerala Police to register a case against him for allegedly bribing tribal leader C K Janu to remain in the National Democratic Alliance and contest from Sultan Bathery constituency in the April 6 assembly elections.
Last week, police had registered a separate case against Surendran, following the directive of a Kasargod court, for allegedly bribing independent candidate, K Sundara, and convincing him to withdraw his candidature from Mancheswaram (north Kerala) in the polls.
The judicial magistrate court in Sultan Bathery on Wednesday issued the order based on a petition filed by Muslim Students Federation (MSF) leader P K Nawas. In his plea, Nawas accused the BJP leader of adopting fraudulent means to win the elections.
The court directed the police to register the case against the BJP leader under sections 171 E (bribery) and 171 F (exerting undue influence at an election) of the Indian Penal Code.
Two weeks ago, a leader of Janadhipathya Rashtriya Party (JRP), an ally of the BJP, had alleged that Surendran had given ₹10 lakh to Janu to return to the NDA fold before the polls. Janu, a tribal leader from Wayanad, had earlier severed links with the BJP but later contested on the NDA ticket and lost the polls from Sultan Bathery in Wayanad district.
JRP leader Praseetha Azeekode said though Janu had sought a bigger amount, Surendran gave her only ₹10 lakh. After her disclosure, an audio tape surfaced in which Surendran was purportedly heard talking to Janu, promising her ₹10 lakh.
HT could not verify the authenticity of the tape.
Janu, however, claimed that the money was part of the poll campaign expenses and no payment was involved for her return.
Surendran also denied his involvement and blamed the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) “for raking up unnecessary controversies to put the party in bad light”. Last week, he was summoned to Delhi by the central leadership in the wake of the controversies.
The CPI (M) and Congress hailed the court decision’s to register a fresh case against the state BJP chief.
CPI(M) state secretary A Vijayaraghavan said the party (BJP) had spent enough money in the recent elections and will face more such cases in the coming days.
