The Indian National League (INL), a constituent party of the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), has been accused of selling its quota of a Public Service Commission (PSC) membership for Rs 40 lakh. While the INL leaders have denied the allegations, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has summoned INL president Abdul Wahab and Secretary Kasim Irikur for a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on July 7, Wednesday.
The PSC is the constitutional body that conducts tests and interviews for all state government jobs. At present, it has 21 members who are all nominees from various ruling political parties. A PSC member serves for a term of six years or until the age of 65. The monthly perks include salary and allowances to the tune of Rs 2 lakh, in addition to the pension, medical treatment for the member and spouse after retirement.
According to a section of INL leaders, the PSC membership was given much against the wishes of a majority in the party, who feel that there were a few other deserving candidates for the post, but it was given to someone in the name of raising funds for the party. The matter was pointed out by senior INL leader EC Mohammed. However, on July 5, he was allegedly ousted from the party for breaching discipline. "I have not yet received any intimation of any action against me. My fight is against corruption and we cannot spoil the name of our party. I will speak with like-minded party leaders and chart the future course of action," he said.
Dismissing the bribery allegations against the party, INL Secretary Kasim Irikur said, "All the reports of collecting money for a PSC nominee are baseless and in our 27 years as a party, we have had no issues of any sort of corruption."
Meanwhile, a section of members in the INL are reportedly upset in the way its nominee in the cabinet, Ahamed Devarkoil, is functioning and this issue is also likely to surface in the meeting on July 7. The INL has been a long-time ally of the Left, but was made a full-fledged LDF member recently and its lone legislator, Ahamed Devarkoil, was also made a cabinet minister after the Kerala Assembly polls on April 6.
As the Kerala CM has summoned the INL leaders, all eyes are on the outcome of the meeting, as the upcoming Assembly session is likely to see the issue being raked up by the Congress-led opposition.