United Democratic Front (UDF) convener Adoor Prakash found himself caught in the cross hairs of the Sabarimala gold theft scandal again on Friday. The latest controversy swirls around photographs of him accepting a cover and two ‘goodie bags’ from Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in the case. The photographs, which emerged in the public domain, were of unknown provenance and date.
The latest controversy was against the backdrop of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) spotlighting Mr. Potti and other suspects calling on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi, with two Congress MPs, Mr. Prakash and Anto Antony, in tow, daring the UDF to discuss the matter in the Assembly instead of “wantonly disrupting” the sitting on Wednesday.
Mr. Prakash told reporters in Delhi that he was the victim of a political witch hunt. He said Mr. Potti was his constituent and the pictures were several years old. Mr. Potti, he said, had called on him in Bengaluru. “The cover contained a wedding invitation letter. The bags had a few sweets and dates, which I immediately distributed to those present. It was not cash or loot as speculated by certain mischievous sections of the media,” he added.
Mr. Prakash said some “paid witnesses” had cited that he was a regular visitor at Mr. Potti’s house at Pulimathu, Thiruvananthapuram. “I might have attended some social functions such as marriages and birthdays at Mr. Potti’s home in the company of other elected representatives and Congress leaders”, he said.
‘Wrong yardstick’
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said photographs of Mr. Potti with Mr. Prakash were no proof of culpability in the gold theft case as touted by the LDF to cover its guilt in the case.
“The LDF is applying the wrong yardstick. A popular vlogger contracted by the Tourism department to promote Kerala as a holiday destination was later arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan. The UDF had no case that the State Tourism Minister was guilty of the woman’s crime. In contrast, the UDF defended the Minister’s innocence,” he said.
Mr. Satheesan said Mr. Potti was photographed alongside Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “Such is public life”, he said. Mr. Potti was present when Mr. Vijayan flagged off an ambulance. The vehicle was donated to aid Sabarimala pilgrims at a public function in front of the government Secretariat.
Published – January 23, 2026 09:14 pm IST
