BJP Keralam unit questions State govt’s anti-corruption inquiry against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

The Keralam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday questioned the State government’s decision to revive a 20-year-old corruption allegation against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

The State government had on Sunday ordered a preliminary inquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) over the suspected death by suicide of Lee See Been, the Chief Engineer of an Indo-Malaysian construction company contracted to upgrade the MC Road, in Kuala Lumpur in November 2006.

The VACB enquiry comes in the backdrop of the Opposition’s national-level agitation seeking Mr. Gyanesh Kumar’s removal as CEC over vote theft allegations. 

Addressing a press conference here, BJP MLA B.B. Gopakumar said that the delayed action against Mr. Gyanesh Kumar raises suspicions.

“The alleged incidents related to the case happened 20 years ago. During this period, he held important posts both under the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) governments. When A.K.Antony was the Defence Minister during the UPA government’s term, he held an important post in the Union Ministry. Now, even if there is any wrongdoing, will action be taken against (IUML leader) M.K. Muneer, who was the Public Works Minister during that time?” asked Mr. Gopakumar.

Asked why the BJP was defending the head of an independent body such as the Election Commission, he said the party was only raising the issue to highlight the “double standards” in handling different cases. 

“Our intention is not to defend Gyanesh Kumar. If anyone has erred, they should be punished. The Home Minister ordered an inquiry in a 20-year old case with much haste. However, when the Enforcement Directorate handed over a letter seeking FIR against former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the (CMRL)-Exalogic pay-off case, no such haste was seen. Only a preliminary inquiry was ordered. Why did not both these fronts who ruled for the past 20 years order an investigation till now? Both the LDF and the UDF are two sides of the same coin,” he said.