Palakkad: The BJP has claimed that a last minute ‘conspiracy’ is been hatched against the party ahead of the By-polls by the CPM and the state government a day after allegations by former BJP office secretary Thiroor Satheesh where he revealed that ‘Hawala money’ was used in the 2021 assembly polls by the saffron party and he was a witness on the arrival of the unaccounted money to Thrissur.
The former BJP office secretary had said to the media that unaccounted money was brought in a car, and he himself had helped in lifting it from the ground floor to the first floor where the party office is located in Thrissur during the previous assembly elections.
“A portion of the money meant for the election activities in Thrissur district were left here. I was a BJP activist back then. I had the responsibility to speak in accordance with the orders of the party leaders back then” said Satheesh to the regional media on Thursday.
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According to Thiroor Satheesh, cash-filled bags, labelled as election campaign materials, arrived at the party’s district office at 11 pm on April 2. He said the money was transported with the knowledge of District President Aneesh Kumar.
Minutes after the allegations were made, BJP Thrissur district president KK Aneesh Kumar slammed the CPI(M) district leadership for using the former BJP office secretary as a ‘tool’ to wreck vengeance against the BJP following the loss in Thrissur Lok Sabha polls.
“We had already sacked the office secretary 2 years ago. Its common knowledge that the CPM has paid him to come up with these statements because they are desperate to defame the party ahead of the By-polls in the state. Why did not he make these allegations all these days? We are least bothered of these allegations as the case is already being rejected by the court of law citing lack of evidence”, said Aneesh Kumar.
BJP state president K Surendran challenged the left government to investigate the Kodakara hawala case.
The Kodakara Hawala case
On April 4, 2021, just three days before the Kerala assembly elections, a staged accident at 4.40 am in Kodakara led to the hijacking of a vehicle carrying Rs 3.5 crore. The Special Investigation Team later determined this money was intended as BJP funds, transported from Karnataka to the BJP district treasurer in Alappuzha. The first charge sheet submitted to the Irinjalakuda First Class Magistrate Court listed 23 arrests and 19 witnesses, including BJP leaders. Of the looted amount, Rs 1.4 crore remains unaccounted for.
Govindan calls for investigation
CPM State Secretary MV Govindan on Friday demanded a thorough probe into the allegations, claiming the recent revelations by Thiroor Satheesh indicate that crores were funneled into BJP offices during the election period. Govindan further alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has shown no interest in investigating the case, suggesting political bias.
“The police and the vigilance is been managed by the Chief minister. Why cant he order a probe into the matter?”, asked K Surendran to the media.
