THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If the bar bribery scam had been a bane for the previous UDF government during the 2016 assembly elections, it has again come to the limelight ahead of crucial elections to the local bodies and later to the assembly. Bar owner Biju Ramesh on Monday said Kerala Congress (M)’s Jose K Mani had offered him Rs 10 crore to withdraw his comments on party chairman K M Mani’s role in the scam, landing the LDF, which is gearing up to admit the Jose faction into it, in a spot.
At the same time, the Congress has not got a clean chit either, as Biju Ramesh claimed that the bar owners had given altogether Rs 20 crore to its leaders and ministers to reduce the bar licence fees when the UDF government was in power. A day after the KC(M) leadership leaked their party’s report which claimed that Opposition Leader Chennithala had conspired against K M Mani in the bar scam, Biju Ramesh dropped another bomb.
“Jose’s call came on bar owner John Kallat’s mobile phone when a meeting of the bar owners was being held. First, Jose threatened to get me killed if I did not withdraw my comments. When I did not relent, he offered me `10 crore. Just because I had raised the bar bribery scam, I had lost several crores of rupees in business. During the UDF government’s tenure, bar owners raised `20 crore, which was given to the then health minister V S Sivakumar, KPCC office and also to then KPCC president Chennithala, to reduce the bar licence fees. If I had an understanding with the Congress, would I have revealed it? Then excise minister K Babu had threatened me, claiming that he would destroy me,” said Biju Ramesh.
Biju Ramesh said neither the LDF nor the UDF had conspired against anyone. He demanded a probe by any of the central agencies. If Jose still maintains that there was a political conspiracy, then he would file a defamation case claiming `10 crore against the KC(M) leader, Ramesh said.He also accused Jose of “trading politics” and that the latter does not know what is around the corner since he will soon be joining the LDF officially.
Those who hunted K M Mani now targeting me: Jose
Kottayam: Countering the bribery allegations levelled by bar owner Biju Ramesh, Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said those who had brutally hunted his father K M Mani over the bar bribery case are now targeting him. “Biju Ramesh is now repeating the heinous allegations levelled against K M Mani without even an iota of evidence. One can easily recognise the motive behind these allegations,” Jose said. Meanwhile, rival KC(M) faction leader P J Joseph said, “It is up to Jose K Mani to respond to the allegations raised by Ramesh.”