THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Suspecting misappropriation of party funds, the state Congress leadership has initiated a special external auditing of the party’s bank account. It is for the first time that the KPCC has decided to go for external auditing of its accounts in the past 15 years.
State Congress president K Sudhakaran has taken the decision after it came to light that funds have been diverted to another five to seven bank accounts, which are not known to the party president or his office. The unusual decision to go for external auditing has triggered rumours in the Congress.
“Sudhakaran felt something amiss as he went through the financial details of the party state committee. He felt there is something wrong with the party’s multiple bank accounts and wanted to bring in transparency,’’ a source in the KPCC told TNIE. “He is keen to see the party evolving into a semi cadre set up and the ongoing external auditing is also part of that,” he added. Coinciding with the party’s 137th birth anniversary, the Congress had launched a ‘`137 challenge’ on December 28, 2021.
‘External auditors nothing unusual’
The state leadership had urged the public to donate `137 to two bank accounts of the party and had shared the details of the accounts in State Bank of India and Dhanlaxmi Bank. A section of the state Congress office-bearers alleged that the digital transactions had not reached the party’s bank account.
“In the party office-bearers meeting at Indira Bhavan on Tuesday, State Congress treasurer Prathapachandran shared among members the details of the amount pooled by the `137 challenge,” the source said.
The ongoing auditing is also expected to address the election fund details pertaining to the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections, which the central leadership had allegedly found discrepancies. The then State Congress leadership had come under the wrath of the candidates for dividing them into three categories and allotting funds. The candidates in the lowest category candidates had complained that funds were insufficient.Prathapachandran, however, insisted that there was nothing unusual in going for external auditors.
“The party has got no internal auditors and we have got only external auditors,’’ he said. According to him, all bank accounts are jointly operated by the president and the treasurer.“Everything is transparent and all the money that comes to the party’s accounts are properly accounted and audited. It is correct that there were some technical issues regarding payment of `137 challenge as thousands of party well wishers had approached the gateway”, Prathapachandran told TNIE.