THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP state president V Muralidharan has alleged that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is trying to broker a compromise with Bar Owners Association leader Biju Ramesh to save the skin of Finance Minister K M Mani and save his ministry. He told a news conference here on Friday that not only Mani but several ministers in the Chandy Cabinet and several UDF leaders also had accepted bribe for facilitating the reopening of the bars. “Since the image of the government had suffered severely and the entire Cabinet was under the cloud of suspicion, the government was facing a severe crisis,’’ Muralidharan said.
He said the shameful stand of the CPM on the ‘’bribe for bar’’ controversy unveils their stance on corruption. He asked the Chief Minister to clarify on whose behest that Congress leader Vakkom Purushothaman met Biju Ramesh for brokering a compromise. ‘’Is it for Mani or Chandy himself. What they have discussed. The people of the state have the right to know,’’ he said. He warned that even if the controversy was contained after taming Biju Ramesh, the case would not be allowed to be wound up.
The BJP will organise collectorate marches on November 10 and a Secretariat march on November 11. The leadership meeting of the party will be held on November 11 afternoon and it will decide on the future course of action. He demanded that Mani should resign and the probe should be handed over to the CBI.
‘Implement Nair Panel Report’
He said the BJP was demanding the government to implement the Justice Sankaran Nair Commission report on Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. The news report that the temple administration would be handed over to a Guruvayur-model committee would not be accepted, Muralidharan said.
“There should be role for devotees, Hindu organisations and ‘Padmanabha Dasa.’ The government should honour the conditions made during the Travancore and Indian Union merger. Unilateral decisions of the government could not be accepted,’’ he said.