Thiruvananthapuram: Ahead of the by-election in Palakkad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, the police conducted raids during the early hours of Wednesday, November 6, at the hotel where the Congress candidate stayed, over allegations of using black money to influence the election.
A political storm cooked up following the event, with the police being unable to find any money from the raids, and the Congress party accused the Left government of using police force to discredit the candidate and the party’s campaign.
The Congress party in the state staged protests against the raids at their hotel rooms, leading to a blame game between the parties in Kerala.
Meanwhile, the Ruling left parties and their followers defended the searches at the hotel, where the police inspected the rooms of the candidate and other Congress leaders staying at the hotel.
In a rare sight, the BJP in the state has also joined the left parties alleging the usage of black money from the Congress party.
The raids were conducted around Tuesday midnight, and aimed at finding suspected a ‘blue bag full of black money’ being used by the Congress candidate. However, no incriminating evidence was found, the police confirmed.
CCTV footage showed the Kerala Students Union (KSU) leader arriving at the hotel with a blue trolley bag, accompanied by Congress candidate and top party leaders in the district, including MPs V K Sreekandan and Shafi Parambil.
Congress candidate Rahul Mamkootathil claimed that the bag brought by the KSU leader contained clothes. “The trolley bag contained my clothes. They (CPI(M) and BJP) need to prove that the trolley bag contained money. I will give it up for forensic examination by the police. Let them examine it and find out what was kept in it. If you check CCTV footage of when CPI(M) leaders arrived at the hotel, they too would be seen carrying trolley bags,” he said.
CPI(M) district secretary E N Sureshbabu lodged a complaint with the district police chief, alleging that the blue trolley bag contained black money.
Around midnight, the police conducted searches, including in the hotel rooms where prominent women politicians from the Congress, such as Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman, were staying.
While the Congress alleged that it was a “midnight police drama” jointly orchestrated by the BJP and the CPI(M) due to their fear of a potential poll debacle, the Marxist party and the saffron party rejected the allegations and accused the grand old party of “distributing” large amounts of black money to secure a victory in the crucial by-election.
According to the police, searches are being conducted in hotels and lodges in the constituency to prevent malpractice during the November 20 by-election and the raid at the hotel was part of that operation.
The political row over the raids deepened on Thursday, with the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala calling for an investigation into the matter.
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan demanded a probe after CCTV footage emerged showing a Congress worker arriving at the hotel with a trolley bag.
The Congress-led UDF has accused the left party of releasing the footage to the media.
“CPI(M) will resist the flow of black money for the bypolls. There is evidence that black money was brought to Palakkad. Therefore, a probe in this regard is required,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India, alleging that CPI(M) had misused the police machinery, as the raid was a “pre-planned operation”.
“It is a clear case of misuse of the police machinery by the CPI(M)-led government in the Palakkad by-election while relegating the EC and election officials to helpless bystanders. It may be noted that even before the police scripted drama fashioned as a raid, CPI(M) and BJP activists assembled in front of the hotel.”
“Not only that, but representatives from a CPI(M) run TV channel had also reached the Hotel. The police conducted the raid in a lackadaisical manner without taking any steps whatsoever to secure the gates or the doors of the Hotel. Consequently, this provided ample opportunity for the CPI(M) and BJP activists, mobilised outside, to enter it and create an environment for conflict. This act on the part of the police makes it evident that the raid was pre-planned,” said the letter sent by the Congress leader.
BJP state president K Surendran alleged that the police assisted Congress leaders in moving black money from the hotel.
“It’s clear that black money was brought to the hotel. However, the police acted to help Congress workers move the money before the raids,” he said.
He claimed this was due to a Congress-CPI(M) arrangement in Palakkad that has existed for several years.
The Congress alleged that the raid was staged by the CPI(M) to divert attention from the Kodakara black money case, in which BJP’s top brass was allegedly involved.
A midnight police raid at the hotel on suspicion of black money triggered an intense political slugfest on Wednesday.
The police had conducted searches, including in hotel rooms where prominent female Congress leaders, such as Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman, were staying. The leaders raised concerns about male police officers trying to enter their rooms without a female officer present in the search.
The Election Commission postponed the Palakkad Assembly by-poll from November 13 to November 20, citing the Kalpathi Ratholsavam festival.
The by-poll was necessitated after the Congress MLA of the constituency, Shafi Parambil, got elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vadakara constituency.
The by-election was earlier scheduled to be held on November 13, and was later rescheduled to be conducted on November 20, in view of the local festival Kalpathi Radholsavam in Palakkad falls on the same day.
(With agency inputs)
