After five years of silence, the Kerala government sprung back to life as it decided to hand over the solar scam rape cases to the CBI on the request of the complainant. However, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said he is ready to face any probe and will cooperate with the agency.
“For five years, this government has been incompetent and has done absolutely nothing regarding this matter. Now, they are using this case to escape their wrongdoings. We are ready to face any enquiry and will cooperate with the investigation,” Chandy told reporters earlier today.
The complainant, accused in the solar scam, wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting a CBI probe after seeing the inactivity in the case. The complainant levelled rape allegations against Congress leaders Chandy, KC Venugopal, Hibi Eden, Adoor Prakash, AP Anilkumar and former Congress leader AP Abdullakutty. She had earlier accused Jose K Mani of the same. However, in a fresh complaint, his name was omitted. Some have allegedly said that Mani joining the Left Democratic Front (LDF) may have something to do with the omission of his name in the case.
Meanwhile, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said the Left government’s move to hand over the case is politically motivated. “The decision to make this move is to divert the public’s attention ahead of the Assembly Elections,” he said.
Congress MP Hibi Eden, MLA KC Joseph and Shafi Parambil among several others, have accused the LDF government of playing politics right before the elections.
However, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury defended the move, stating that on the request of the complainant the government decided to hand over the case. “The move to issue a CBI probe is at the request of the complainant. The opposition’s accusation of the decision being politically motivated is double-edged,” he said.
The Crime Branch Special Investigation Team is investigating all the rape cases related to the solar scam. Three years ago, the Justice N Sivarajan Commission submitted its findings in the solar scam, but the government did not take any action. The Kerala High Court rejected the Commission’s findings based on the complainant's letter, accused of fraud in the solar scam.
Fast forward to January 24, 2021, the LDF government’s sudden move to hand over the cases to the CBI comes after the Congress High Command gave Chandy the responsibility of heading a committee that will oversee the Kerala Assembly election and heading a strategy committee.
The LDF won the previous elections on the back of the solar scam. The United Democratic Front (UDF) could be using this as a weapon ahead of the election. Not to forget, the UDF could also use the Life Mission scam, Gold Smuggling scam and Dollar Smuggling scam to its advantage. The next few months leading to the Assembly elections are vital for all parties.
