BJP councillor’s death: Kerala Cooperation dept’s Vigilance wing starts inquiry into Valiyasala Farm Tour Society

The Vigilance wing of Kerala’s Cooperation department has initiated an inquiry into the alleged financial irregularities in the supposedly Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-controlled Valiyasala Farm Tour Society, headed by the party’s Thirumala ward councillor, K. Anil Kumar, 52, who died by suspected suicide on Saturday (September 20, 2025).

General Education Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretariat member V. Sivankutty said on Monday (September 22, 2025) that the department would audit the society’s financial transactions and fix accountability by “identifying members who wilfully defaulted on loan repayments and indulged in other self-profiting monetary shenanigans, consequently pushing the institution into financial distress”.

Mr. Sivankutty said the BJP leadership could not escape the “vicarious responsibility” for Anil Kumar’s death.

Mr. Sivankutty said he had called on Anil Kumar’s bereaved family on Sunday and found them deeply disenchanted with the BJP State leadership’s “failure to help Anil Kumar tide over the society’s crisis”. 

Mr. Sivankutty said the BJP was attempting to save its face and insulate itself from the wrath of its cadres by blaming the State police for Anil Kumar’s death. 

(On Sunday, BJP Thiruvananthapuram district president Karamana Jayan had accused the police of unlawfully summoning Anil Kumar to the Thampanoor police station and coercing him to settle a financial dispute involving ₹5 lakh, skipping due process. He alleged that the police had abetted Anil Kumar’s death. Mr. Jayan denied that the BJP controlled the society.)

Mr. Sivankutty said Anil Kumar’s purported suicide letter, itemised as crime scene evidence by the police, clearly indicated that the councillor felt betrayed by his own party members and abandoned by the State leadership.

Seeks apology from Rajeev Chandrasekhar

He said BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar was venting his ire on journalists, provoked by the internal crisis his party has found itself in. Mr. Sivankutty demanded a public apology from Mr. Chandrasekhar for allegedly demeaning a woman journalist at Sivagiri on Sunday.

Mr. Sivankutty said Mr. Chandrasekhar “always added an element of threat” to his statements. “Such intimidations will not pass muster in Kerala”, he said.

(Mr. Chandrasekhar had drawn criticism last month for posting on social media that “BJP karyakarthas and Hindus” would mobilise themselves in strength to prevent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalin from attending the Global Ayyappa Sanghamam, which was organised at Pampa on Saturday.)

Protest marches

Meanwhile, Anil Kumar’s death has rocked Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation politics. The BJP has announced a march to the Thampanoor police station on Monday.

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) district secretary has called for protest marches in municipal wards, demanding that the police bring “BJP leaders responsible for the councillor’s death” to book.