A week after Kerala BJP president K. Surendran appeared before the Kasargode Crime Branch police officials in an election bribery case filed against him, a second notice has been served to ask him to appear again with a mobile phone, which he claims has been lost.
The police probe team however claims that the particular mobile phone which he says has been lost continues to be in use and hence has asked him to come again before them in a week’s time.
A local court had directed the Police to register a case under the Election Commission rules when a complaint was given against Surendran and two other local BJP leaders, after it surfaced that money was paid to the BSP candidate K. Sundara to withdraw his nomination at the Manjeswaram assembly constituency in the April 6 assembly polls.
Surendran in the assembly polls had contested from two constituencies – Konni and Manjeswaram.
Last week Surendran was closeted with the officials for over 75 minutes and according to sources in the know of things he denied knowing Sundara.
He also pointed out that since he has the highest respect and regards for the law of the land, he came before the probe officials.
The CPI-M candidate from the constituency V.V. Ramesan, who finished third, is the complainant and the Kasargode First Class Magistrate Court gave the nod to register a case against Surendran and two others.
When votes were counted on May 2, the Congress-led UDF candidate A.K.M. Ashraff defeated Surendran with a margin of 745 votes.
Incidentally, it was Sundara himself who made an open admission to the media that he was given Rs 2.5 lakh and a Smartphone to pull out from the election. He said that he was also offered Rs 15 lakh, a home, and a wine parlour in Karnataka if Surendran wins.
Since then the ruling CPI-M led Left was up in arms against this disclosure, but this charge was then promptly denied by Surendran and his party that no such thing has happened.
Incidentally in the 2016 assembly polls, Surendran lost by a meagre margin of 89 votes, and in that election, Sundara, who contested as an independent candidate secured 467 votes.
So the BJP was determined to see that this time with Sundara coming up as a BSP candidate, his name would appear just before the name of Surendran in the electronic voting machine and it could play spoilsport to the fortunes of Surendran.
And on the last day of withdrawal of nomination, Sundara withdrew his candidature.