Addressing various allegations and rumours against him, Kerala assembly speaker P Ramakrishnan said that he is not a “holy cow that is above rumours and allegations”. He admitted that he knew the gold smuggling prime accused Swapna Suresh, but cut ties with her after realizing her background. “I should have learnt about her background, and that’s my mistake,” he says.
Apart from knowing Swapna, Ramakrishnan has said that he has no connection to the gold smuggling accused and has not helped anyone in that regards. He added that he wishes to refrain from commenting on the allegations against him since different central agencies are probing the matter right now. Although considering legal action against BJP state president K Surendran, the Speaker has decided to hold it off until the agencies have finished their investigations. Ramakrishnan also mentioned that he is willing to answer any questions put forward by the agencies in the matter.
Addressing Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala’s allegations, the Speaker said, “You can criticize Constitutional structures, however, attacking them based on guesses and rumours shouldn’t be the norm.” Chennithala had pointed out that discrepancies in giving Uralungal Labour Society the E-Vidhan project for a paperless assembly, which, according to the Speaker, would have fetched a profit of Rs 40 crore. Ramakrishnan also said that Chennithala made the allegation without understanding the history of Uralungal. “Uralungal had completed the development of Sankaranarayanan Thambi Hall in only Rs 9.17 crore, while the government had approved Rs 16.65 crore,” Ramakrishnan said. The Speaker added that Chennithala could ask the opposition members in the respective assembly committee in charge of the project to get a factual understanding.
