‘Solar-singed’ Chandy upbraids Pinarayi, vents ire on Sivarajan panel

‘Solar-singed’ Chandy upbraids Pinarayi, vents ire on Sivarajan panel

Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday lashed out at the LDF Government and the Chief Minister’s Office for circulating a misleading press note, soon after the tabling of  the Solar report nami

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday lashed out at the LDF Government and the Chief Minister’s Office for circulating a misleading press note, soon after the tabling of  the Solar report naming a few in the UDF as the accused, which was picked up by the media though there was no such conclusion in the report .

He was also highly critical of the Solar Commission for not checking the credibility and authenticity of  letters written by the prime accused , mentioning many names on bribery and sexual charges. .’’What kind of justice is this? What is the approach? Is it befitting political decency ?’’ a furious Chandy asked. ‘’You can draw your own conclusions,’’ Chandy told reporters here.

‘What should be made out of the Solar Commission submitting one of the four volumes of the report without signing it ?” he said. There is also a deafening silence on the revelation of the accused the CPM leaders had offered `10 crore to raise charges against UDF leaders and the former government.
Chandy said the Solar Commission had given a receipt to the jail superintendent while submitting her 21-page letter on July 19, 2013. ‘’What has been hotly peppered in the report was from a 25-page letter, lengthened later on by the accused. An independent witness had deposed my name was not mentioned in the first letter’’, Chandy said.

‘Commission itself had termed actions of  the prime accused dubious’

“The commission itself had passed an order on June 22, 2016 while rejecting the plea of  Saritha for postponing her appearance before it, clearly stating ‘she is adopting a dubious and undesirable course by giving evidences in a piece-meal manner and it cannot be allowed’.But by the time of presentation of the report on September 22, 2017, there was a sea change in the stand of the Solar Commission which banked on her second letter. ‘’

“Pinarayi Vijayan had stated all those having links with the accused is going to be charged. In 2010, when the then LDF Government was in power, there were 13 cases against Team Solar led by Saritha but no investigation was carried out. She had even come out with ads carrying the message of  the then Chief  Minister. Investigating agencies reported ` 6.75 crores was duped by the woman from 32 persons. There is no mention of it  in the report. “The charge against me is I had taken `32 lakh, which she collected from Mallellil Sreedharan Nair. It was totally false. He reminded the CPM that attempts to create any wedge among leaders in the Congress and UDF is not going to succeed.

Blackmailing in Solar issue: It’s not a politician, clarifies Chandy

Chandy clarified the hints he gave about blackmailing was not about R Balakrishna Pillai as suggested in some reports. ‘’He is not a politician. The identity of the person will be revealed at the appropriate time,” he said.

Solar is unsubstantial accusation by one individual: Tharoor

Kochi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said the Solar Commission report comprised mostly “unsubstantial accusation by one individual”, and there was no “conclusion of the investigation or no charge sheet” in the report. Replying to questions from the press, Tharoor, who began by saying that he had not read “3 or 4 volumes of the report comprising 350 pages each”, said he wished not to answer the question by “accepting the presumption that the alleged exploitation actually happened.” “It seems many of the things in the report are unverified,’ he said, adding that some charges are verified by call records, most of the charges are confined to “she said, he said. She said this happened, he said this never happened.” “As I understand, the state government, by tabling the report, said there are grounds for investigation,” he said.

‘Abolish ‘A’ ‘I’ groups’

Tharoor said the ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups in the Congress in Kerala are a historical legacy, which is an unfortunate legacy, and the partymen are more loyal to the groups than to the party. He said the fact that partymen are more loyal to the groups than to the party, is a “deplorable fact”. “I don’t belong to any group; Congress I or Congress A. It’s a historical legacy, and should be dispensed with.”

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