Kerala’s opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has decided to move the high court seeking a “court-monitored” probe into bribery charges against Finance and Law Minister K M Mani.
It also decided to launch an agitation demanding the resignation of the octogenarian minister who allegedly took Rs10mn from hoteliers to renew their bar licences.
LDF activists will take out marches on the State Secretariat housing the offices of the ministers on November 25. Demonstrations will also be held at all the 14 district administration offices.
“We also demand the role of the chief minister (Oommen Chandy) and excise minister (K Babu) be probed,” Vaikom Vishwan, convener of the seven-party combine led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said after a meeting here yesterday.
Biju Ramesh, who heads the bar owners in the state as its “working president”, came on televisions last month accusing Mani of taking the money and later ditching them after they failed to pay more bribe.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) of the police has since started a preliminary investigation and took a statement from Ramesh.
“This is the first time that a minister is facing such an allegation in the history of Kerala but the government has not registered a case against him,” Vishwan said, adding the LDF will meet again on December 1 to decide on further action.
The meeting was held after the Communist Party of India (CPI) publicly accused the leading partner of going soft on Mani with whom it kept the option of having an alliance open to dislodge the Congress-led government.
Pannyan Raveendran, the CPI’s secretary in the state, held a press conference ahead of the meeting to launch a “tit-for-tat” attack on CPM and its secretary Pinarayi Vijayan accusing them of changing positions.
