A Nationalist Congress Party member has been arrested for fraudulently offering jobs as the Motor Vehicle Department in Transport Minister AK Saseendran’s name. According to Kollam police, they picked him up from Pathanapuram after getting multiple complaints from people of having cheated off the money by the accused — Shajahan Manzil Ayoob Khan. He has been sent to remand after judicial submission.
Reportedly, he is a state committee member and he allegedly claimed that he had direct contact with the minister and the latter’s staff. However, according to the police, they were “unable to find any evidence” linking Ayoob with Saseendran and the latter’s staff.
The accused had been carrying out his ingenious plan in the cover of the newly launched motor vehicle department offices at Chadayamangalam, Pathanapuram, and Konni. He collected the money — ranging from Rs 25,000 to lakhs — from prospective candidates.
On the other hand, the LDF is no stranger to the job-for-cash allegations as Solar scam accused Saritha S Nair's alleged voice note created ripples last month. In a voice note, she told a youngster identified as Arun, that four were given backdoor appointment into the LDF government’s Arogya Keralam scheme.
“The appointments were made with the knowledge of politicians and bureaucrats, and the agreement is that the selected candidates should stand with the party. The backdoor appointment is also to create party funding, which will be shared between the party and the officials,” she told Arun, who had been a victim of job fraud in Neyyatinkara. Saritha denied that the audio note is not hers, and the Neyyatinkara police, who had had that voice note for over a year, did not verify its authenticity.
However, Saseendran’s trouble doesn’t stop there. Earlier on Monday, the announcement of Transport Minister AK Saseendran’s candidature has led to an implosion within the Nationalist Congress Party leadership. Following this, PS Prakashan of the state executive left the NCP and declared that he would join Mani C Kappan at the UDF.
Adding to their troubles, the NCP’s youth wing — Nationalist Youth Congress — has passed a resolution against Saseendran’s candidatures in the presence of the party’s state president TP Peethambaran. They are demanding that the two-tenure rule should also be imposed in NCP. Saseendran is a two-time winner from the Elathur in Kozhikode, and following the left parties’ two-term rule many major leaders have been left behind, including Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Industries Minister EP Jayarajan, Culture Minister AK Balan, and Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan.
Many in Kozhikode are demanding that Saseendran step down and give space to newer faces. Moreover, posters and banners demanding that Saseendran step down, reminding the sexual allegation controversy, and asking to save NCP were popularised in Kozhikode.
