KOCHI: Reiterating that former DGP Loknath Behera played an important role in Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal’s switch to the BJP, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said there was evidence for his mediation between the CPM and the Sangh Parivar.
“The retired IPS officer, still holding an important position in the state, facilitated her entry into the BJP with the knowledge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. We are not levelling an allegation against a person. We have received concrete evidence about his role and it was done with the knowledge of Pinarayi Vijayan,” Satheesan told reporters here on Sunday.
He said there was no need to reply to the allegations raised by Padmaja as they were all baseless. Responding to CPM leaders’ allegation that the Congress was turning BJP, Satheesan said former LDF MLA Alphons Kannanthanam joined the BJP during Pinarayi Vijayan’s tenure as CPM state secretary.
“Pinarayi arranged a feast for Kannanthanam after he became a union minister. Besides, Viswanatha Menon, who was a minister in the LDF government, also joined the BJP. Pinarayi was also one of the leaders who won in 1977 with the support of RSS,” he said.
Satheesan demanded the state government disburse social security pension to thousands of poor people when it gets the Rs 13,000 crore allocated by the Union government. “Many people are facing hardship without money to buy even medicine,” he added.