Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in Kozhikode that the bribery charges against him in the solar scam have been 'aided and abetted' by those discomfited by the government's liquor policy.
Chandy saw the nefarious designs of aggrieved bar owners acting in cohort with the Opposition CPI(M) behind the charges trumped up against him by Saritha Nair, prime accused in the solar scam.
BRIBE CHARGES
During the course of a deposition before a single-judge commission inquiring into the scam, Saritha Nair had said yesterday that she had paid Rs 1.90 crore in two tranches to Chandy's henchmen in 2012.
She had also said she was forced to part with Rs 40 lakh in favour of Electricity Minister Aryadan Muhammed for favours sought with respect to the solar projects her company wanted to promote.
Meanwhile, speaking to newspersons, Chandy said the Opposition was doing its utmost to prevent the government from coming back to power in elections due in three months.
The Chief Minister said he would not be surprised to find even nastier allegations being raised in the run-up to the elections.
His response comes in the context of accused Saritha Nair returning today to depose before the solar commission in Kochi.
STAGES PROTESTS
Earlier this morning, activists of the Democratic Youth Front of India, a CPI(M) front, and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha of the BJP, showed black flags and demonstrated against the Chief Minister when he arrived at the Kozhikode railway station.
The police had a tough time keeping the activists in check even as hordes of Congressmen formed a protective ring around the Chief Minister.
Also this morning, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the charges against the Chief Minister were masterminded by vested interests.
VM Sudheeran, president of the Kerala State Congress Committee, speaking in the middle of his Jana Raksha Yatra at Kottayam, charged that the Opposition was plotting a political conspiracy against the government.
He had said yesterday the expose against the Chief Minister were 'election surprises' just ahead of elections to the State Assembly.