Oommen Chandy stands by graft charge against Centre

Thiruvananthapuram: Former chief minister Oommen Chandy has again alleged corruption in the central government’s deal with  the once-blacklisted British company De La Rue  for  printing  plastic currency of Rs 10 denomination worth Rs 100 crore.

He had raised the same charge  at a press conference in Kochi on Saturday, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation. Mr Chandy took up the matter again as the AICC had kept silent on it amid reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had suppressed it.

Mr Chandy has shot off a letter to Mr Modi seeking his explanation on the British company which has failed to maintain the security features while printing Indian currency notes.

Mr Chandy told reporters here on Wednesday that the same company was the platinum sponsor of the Indo-British Tech summit held in Delhi from November 7 to 9 in which the prime ministers of both the countries had attended.

“It was perplexing that the sponsor has since been removed from the website. It proves that there was some shady dealings. The company was blacklisted by the previous UPA government, but it started operations in India in 2016,”  he said.

When the reporters  asked Mr Chandy why he was  raising the issue instead of the AICC leadership, AICC chief coordinator K. V. Thangkhabalu, who was also present, said that he is a tall leader of the party. “Chandy   has the sources and contacts to raise such issues,” he said.