Thiruvananthapuram: Days after the Vadakkancherry panchayat president election in Kerala’s Thrissur, allegations of horse-trading have put the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in a tight spot.
A voice clip surfaced Friday in which an independent councillor purportedly admits to being offered Rs 50 lakh to support the LDF in the election. The voice is said to be of E.U. Jaffer, an Independent backed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), an ally of the rival Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), who cross-voted in favour of LDF candidate K.V. Nafeesa in the poll held Saturday.
Jafar also stayed away from the subsequent vice-president election, resulting in the LDF securing control of the Vadakkancherry panchayat. Both the UDF and the LDF had won seven seats each in the panchayat following the election, making the vote of the independent member the deciding factor.
The Congress has approached the Kerala Vigilance Department seeking investigation of the clip that was released by its functionary to the local media.
The LDF has denied the allegation of horse-trading. Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary M.V. Govindan told media persons that the party did not need to buy anyone to come to power. “We accept the people’s mandate and do not need to buy anyone out. Let the probe reveal the truth,” he asserted.
Despite rumours that he had voted for the LDF candidate after receiving money, Jafar initially maintained that his vote was a mistake, but resigned from his post Monday after opposition from the UDF.
The audio clip purportedly has a conversation between Jafar and local Congress functionary A.A. Musthafa.
“I live to settle my life, and there is an opportunity for that now. Here, there is an offer of Rs 50 lakh, not one or two rupees. And the panchayat president post, don’t you know the power of the post? If I stay with you, I will get it only if I win a lot. Here, there is nothing like that. If I get the money, I will be safe, and there is no need to be in politics. I have an option now,” Jafar is purported to be saying.
Speaking to ThePrint, Musthafa, who is also the party’s Varavur Mandalam president, said the conversation had taken place a day before the polls on 26 December, when he casually contacted Jafar to enquire about the voting scheduled for the next day.
“Initially, I thought he was joking and that even if he was offered money, he would reject it. But when he voted for the Left, we realised it was true,” Musthafa said, adding that Jafar hails from a lower-income family of IUML supporters.
C. Sreekumar, a Kerala Congress functionary and the party’s Thrissur leader, told ThePrint that the Congress would hold a protest demanding the resignation of the elected Vadakkancherry panchayat president. The party’s former MLA and state functionary Anil Akkara also filed an official complaint with the state vigilance department Friday.
“It is the act of party [CPI(M)] leaders from Thrissur, such as K. Radhakrishnan (Alathur MP) and his aides, who were involved in the Karuvannur scam. Who else can sponsor Rs 50 lakh?” he alleged.
He was referring to the alleged financial fraud at the CPI(M)-controlled Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Thrissur district, which was investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.
This is the second major controversy to arise in Thrissur district after the local body polls.
Last week, eight Congress functionaries had resigned from the party to support an Independent with the help of four BJP councillors in Mattathur panchayat president election.
Due to this, the LDF, which had secured 10 seats and was the single largest party, failed to win power, and the Congress members who had resigned, along with the BJP councillors and two independents, elected the independent candidate as president.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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