Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at KC (M) chairman K. M. Mani on Monday and asked him to prove that he had hatched a conspiracy against him to tarnish his name. After a hurriedly convened meeting of the UDF leaders at Cantonment House, a charged-up Chennithala told reporters that the report prepared by the KC(M) after an internal inquiry into the bar scam will prove whether he is a villain or a hero. KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran also claimed that the Congress had always taken a positive stand towards all allies.
Mr Chennithala said the reasons given by Mr Mani for leaving the UDF on Sunday did not carry conviction. Mr Mani was with the UDF for 34 years and the Congress had held him and his party in high esteem. When he presented the budget in 2015 amidst protests from the Opposition, the Congress had supported him from its heart, he claimed.
“As Home Minister in charge of Vigilance, I had given him a clean chit on two occasions in the bar scam after a quick verification done by the Vigilance. We do not know why he left us,” said Mr Chennithala. He lamented that Mr Mani’s decision came after he had agreed to participate in the UDF protest to be held against the state government on Wednesday. Asked about the possibility of talks with Mr Mani, he said “the doors are always open.”
The third biggest ally of the UDF leaving the front three months after choosing him as the Opposition Leader did not bother him at all personally, he said and recalled that the RSP and the JD (U) had joined the UDF when he was the KPCC chief. “I do not know why he has any grouse against me as I have been close to him ever since I became his cabinet colleague in 1987. I personally do not have anything against him, though his party organ of late has been attacking me,” added Mr Chennithala.
Mr Sudheeran said at a party programme here that the Congress had never taken a ‘big brother’ attitude towards the allies. Both Mr Oommen Chandy and Mr P. K. Kunhalikutty had tried to retain the KC (M) in the UDF, he added. “We do not wish to antagonize the KC (M). They will one day regret leaving the front,” he said.
