THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finding himself in the eye of a political storm over allegations of horse-trading, Kuttanad MLA Thomas K Thomas denied the charge that he had offered Rs 50 crore each to LDF legislators Antony Raju and Kovoor Kunjumon to defect to the NCP Ajit Pawar faction, an ally of the BJP.
While NCP state chief P C Chacko as well as Kunjumon have denied the charge, Raju, who reportedly raised the allegation, remained non-committal.
Thomas has urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to conduct a detailed investigation into the whole episode. In a nine-page letter handed over to the CM on October 3 when they met at Cliff House, Thomas requested an official response in this regard. In the letter, Thomas termed the charges as unjustified.
The NCP Ajit Pawar faction has a state committee and if there’s any move to poach MLAs from other parties, it would have been made by them. “Why should Ajit Pawar faction bypass its own state party unit and approach me? If the Ajit Pawar faction wanted to indulge in horse-trading, first they had to purchase me, and no one has approached me yet,” Thomas added.
Going by reports that surfaced on Friday, Raju, an ex-minister and Democratic Kerala Congress MLA, alleged that Thomas had offered him and Kunjumon of RSP (Leninist) Rs 100 crore to switch allegiance.
Speaking to TNIE, Thomas said he’s waiting for the CM’s reply before taking the next step.
“I don’t maintain a good rapport with Raju since he had tried to harm my late brother Thomas Chandy. In the assembly too, I maintain a distance from him. His party has been eyeing the Kuttanad seat for some time now. He has been making baseless charges against me with vested interests. The NCP has only two MLAs, and how can I defect (without attracting disqualification under the anti-defection law),” he said.
The CM had summoned Thomas along with Chacko and party minister A K Saseendran. Pinarayi informed them about what he heard from Raju. He asked why Thomas had indulged in a conversation with Raju about switching sides and whether it was true. Thomas denied the allegations and sought an inquiry.
Meanwhile, Chacko, skeptical about Raju’s intention, asked the CM what would Thomas gain by offering Rs 50 crore to Raju. “If Thomas offered Rs 50 crore to two MLAs for switching sides, it should be for the sake of becoming the chief minister, or for some other huge benefits. Here, what would he gain?” Chacko reportedly asked the CM.
Soon after he met with the CM, Chacko called up Raju and asked him why such an allegation was made. However, Raju snubbed him. Before meeting the NCP leaders, the CM had met Kunjumon too at Kottarakara Rest House on October 2.
‘I told CM no such thing ever happened’
Pinarayi asked Kunjumon whether he was offered Rs 50 crore by Thomas. The CM, however, did not mention Raju’s name in the conversation.
“I told CM no such thing ever happened,” Kunjumon said. “I told CM that it was wrong information and I have nothing to do with it,” he said.
On October 4, Thomas along with Kunjumon confronted Raju soon after the assembly adjourned. “Mathew T Thomas was also standing behind us,” Thomas said. “I asked him why he made such baseless statements. But he said I told him that people are ready to give Rs 250 crore and wouldn’t it be better if someone is ready to pay you Rs 50 crore,” he said.
“Raju said Kunjumon may have forgotten the whole episode. Raju also told us the CM has ‘intelligence network’ all over the place. I had spoken about it in the assembly lounge and CM could be in the know,” Thomas added. Kunjumon also asked Raju how could he possibly forget a conversation involving Rs 50 crore.
Thomas suspects conspiracy against him
According to NCP sources, Thomas had hinted about conspiracy allegations against him at the party’s high power committee meeting on October 19 in Ernakulam.
“There are allegations spreading against me that I offered Rs 100 crore to Kunjumon and Raju. This is not true. Raju is behind the allegation. Kunjumon had denied it to the CM when he met the latter,” the sources quoted Thomas as saying at the meeting.