KASARAGOD: More political trouble is brewing for the BJP and its state president K Surendran after his namesake K Sundara told police that he was bribed by the BJP leader's confidant Sunil Naik to pull out of the Manjeshwar Assembly election.
Kasaragod police have registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) into Sundara's allegations, which include, abduction, wrongful confinement, and bribery.
An FIR would be registered against BJP's Surendran "because he is the apparent beneficiary of Sundara withdrawing his nomination papers", said a top police officer in Kasaragod.
The preliminary investigation was launched after CPM leader and LDF's candidate in Manjeshwar V V Rameshan submitted a complaint to district police chief P B Rajeev against Surendran. Sundara had also approached the Badiadka police saying he was threatened and bribed by the BJP to withdraw his nomination. On Sunday, Badiadka police recorded the statement of Sundara.
"He told us that he was given Rs 2.5 lakh by Sunil Naik, Suresh Naik, and Ashok Shetty," said Badiadka station house officer Salim. Sundara also said he was "taken away" from his house in Suresh Naik's car and kept in detention.
Suresh Naik is the BJP's Manjeshwar constituency secretary. Kozhikode-based Sunil Naik is a former state treasurer of Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP. He is not an office-bearer of the party now but his name had also popped up in the Kodakara hawala heist case.
According to reports, Rs 3.5 crore meant for BJP's electioneering was robbed from Dharmarajan, an RSS worker, at Kodakara bridge in Thrissur on April 3. Dharmarajan reportedly told police he lost only Rs 25 lakh given to him by Sunil Naik for business purposes.
Reporters tracking the BJP in Kozhikode said Sunil Naik is a "close confidant" of Surendran. When contacted, Sunil Naik said he had nothing to comment on the allegation and would take the reporter to court if anything was reported against him.
When pressed for a comment, he said he was no longer an office-bearer of the BJP.
Yet, on March 21, he posted on Facebook four photographs of him posing with Sundara and his mother from the candidate's house at Vaninagar in remote Enmakaje panchayat, 200km from Kozhikode.
His Facebook post read: "In 2016, Sundara contested as an independent candidate. This time, Sundara, who is also a Yakshagana artiste, decided to withdraw his nomination for K Surendran because he did not want to hamper the chances of the BJP leader who had valiantly led the struggle to protect the customs of Sabarimala. Last time, Sundara had got 467 votes and Surendran had lost by 89 votes".
Sunil Naik said he had posted the comment and photograph after Sundara withdrew his nomination. To be sure, March 21 was a Sunday, and Sundara withdrew his nomination on the last date on March 22. He said he went there as a "sympathiser" of the BJP.
Rameshan, an influential CPM leader, said he filed a complaint "because the BJP was trying to destroy democracy using money and power. We have to stop it".
Sundara had gone incommunicado on March 20, two days before the last date to withdraw nomination papers.
Worried leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which fielded him in Manjeshwar, approached Badiadka police alleging he was kidnapped.
However, when Badiadka police phoned him, Sundara attended the call and so neither a missing complaint nor a kidnap case was filed, BSP district general secretary Vijayakumar B had told TNIE then.
When The New Indian Express contacted Sundara on March 21, he said he did not withdraw the nomination because of Sabarimala "but I will not disown the statement put out by the BJP".
Now, he categorically said Sabarimala was not the reason why he pulled out of the election. He said he asked for Rs 15 lakh and a wine shop licence in Karnataka to withdraw his nomination papers if Surendran won.
"The BJP gave me Rs 2.5 lakh and a smartphone worth Rs 15,000 to withdraw the nomination papers," he said.
BJP district president K Shreekanth said the entire case was a part of a false narrative being built by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the CPM to tarnish the BJP.
"Now there is an ongoing case (Kodakara). They are trying to build a larger narrative by foisting this case," he said.
"These complaints would not stand the legal scrutiny," he said. "Instead, the police should investigate the conspiracy of the CPM and the Muslim League," he added.