THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mahila Congress leader and former AICC secretary Shanimol Usman remained firm on her stand that KPCC president V M Sudheeran should either clarify or prove his statement casting aspersions on her that she was a votary of the liquor lobby in the state.
She told a KPCC commission headed by party vice-president M M Hassan at an evidence- gathering session here on Monday in connection with issues related to Lok Sabha poll campaigning in Alappuzha, which had eventually turned into a lashing out against Sudheeran by Shanimol, that she had not written the letter at the prodding of anyone as alleged.
‘’Those who had levelled allegations against me should prove them. Or else, they should correct it. The onus lies on those who had expressed doubts that there was a conspiracy behind my letter, to prove that also’’, Shanimol Usman maintained. ‘’I don’t know how my letter addressed to the KPCC president made its way to the media’’,she added. ‘’I’ve nothing against Sudheeran in person. I’m not bothered about what was stated against me before or after the media briefing undertaken by Sudheeran, based on my letter. Castigating me as a supporter of the liquor lobby is not a political issue for me, but a moral issue. He has to come out with amends or provide proof for the same, ‘’Shanimol told the commission. She is also understood to have told the panel that she will not under any circumstances give a reply to any of the charges aired by Alappuzha DCC president A A Shukkoor. The M M Hassan panel has a brief before it to find out whether there was a conspiracy behind Shanimol Usman’s letter which had blasted Sudheeran on various points and how the letter was leaked to the media.
Meanwhile, Alappuzha DCC president A A Shukkoor, who deposed before the panel on Monday, also stood ground with his charges against Shanimol. He had alleged that she was totally inactive on the Lok Sabha poll campaign front in Alappuzha and was suspected to have indulged in activities adverse to Congress candidate K C Venugopal. Shukkoor was also consistent that Shanimol had written the letter at the behest of the liquor lobby.
Apart from Hassan, the probe panel comprises KPCC vice-president Laly Vincent and general secretary P M Suresh Babu.