T’PURAM/KOTTAYAM: A day after the Kerala Congress (M) openly expressed resentment over the state attorney’s remark before the Supreme Court indicating that K M Mani was corrupt, the Left Democratic Front(LDF) went into damage control mode. Finding itself in a spot after the UDF cashed in on the issue, the CPM was eager to douse the political fire over the remark. The efforts by the Left leadership paid off as KC(M) chairman Jose K Mani later made it clear that the party is satisfied with LDF’s explanation.
On Tuesday morning, LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan told reporters that the protest in the House was against then UDF government’s corruption. Blaming the media for trying to create unrest within the ruling front, Vijayaraghavan added that the government had not mentioned K M Mani by name. “Then UDF government was neck deep in corruption. The protest in the House should be seen as an agitation against the corrupt UDF government,” he said.
He, however, evaded repeated questions on then Left leadership targeting K M Mani. “The government has not mentioned any name in the Supreme Court. The media deliberately misinterpreted the proceedings before the apex court,” he said.
The LDF convener added that KC(M) is a major partner in the LDF. Showering praises on K M Mani, Vijayaraghavan, who’s also CPM state secretary in-charge, said the Vigilance had given Mani the clean chit.
“K M Mani was a leader with a long political history. The Vigilance had conducted investigation in connection with the bar bribery issue. The Vigilance had come up with a finding that Mani has no individual responsibility with respect to the allegations that came up. The KC (M) came to the Left fold, after rejecting the UDF, which is rooted in corruption,” he said.
With the Left eagerly coming forward to resolve the issue, the KC(M) too responded positively. Following the clarification by A Vijayaraghavan, Jose K Mani echoed the same. Speaking to reporters in Kottayam after the party steering committee meeting, Jose accused the media of distorting facts to mislead people on the issue.
“The LDF convener has already made it clear that the government has not made any remark that K M Mani was corrupt. The KC(M) has also found from our own sources in New Delhi that the lawyer did not mention Mani as guilty or corrupt. The media should desist from spreading misleading news,” Jose said.
He also alleged that some quarters were trying to derive political gains in the name of K M Mani. “Responding to a query from the court, the lawyer said K M Mani was facing allegations at the time of the protests. It doesn’t mean that Mani was corrupt. The government didn’t even mention Mani’s name anywhere in the affidavit in connection with the assembly ruckus incident. Any attempt to derive political gains in the name of Mani won’t yield results,” he said.
It is significant that investigations by both the LDF and UDF governments had found that Mani was not guilty in any way and the High Court upheld the findings as well, Jose added.The LDF went into damage control mode, following intervention by senior CPM leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. On Tuesday itself Jose K Mani called up Pinarayi, CPM politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan and sought urgent intervention to clear the air. Following this, the leaders discussed the matter among themselves and directed Vijayaraghavan to explain the LDF stance.
Meanwhile, Kerala Congress working chairman P C Thomas demanded that General Education Minister V Sivankutty should step down from office, following the Supreme Court’s decision to go ahead with the assembly bedlam case. He also took a jibe against the LDF leadership on the K M Mani issue citing that they are trying to evade the controversy.