The sexual misconduct charges raised by gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh against three prominent leaders of the ruling CPI(M) triggered a political controversy in Kerala on Saturday, October 22. Opposition Congress and BJP leaders urged the police to register a case against the trio and asked the Left government to shed its silence over the issue.
Swapna, while talking to a TV channel, had alleged on Friday that the leaders -- two former ministers and an ex-Assembly speaker -- had sought sexual favours from her. Swapna raised the allegations against former Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and former ministers, Thomas Issac and Kadakampally Surendran. However, neither the leaders nor the Marxist party reacted to the startling charges so far.
“Kadakampally Surendran is a very dirty, pathetic, frustrated and manipulative gentlemen who does not deserve to be a minister, who does not deserve to be an MLA if at all these are political positions,” she said and added that he sent lewd messages. Former Speaker P Sreeramkrishnan sir is very childish like a college student, and he too sent lewd messages, she alleged.
“When I had to meet Thomas Isaac with my ex-husband, while talking to him, he was giving out signals though indirectly and he once told me that he will take me to Munnar saying that it is a beautiful place,” she said.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly VD Satheesan said it has been seen in Kerala's history that an FIR gets registered and investigated when such grave allegations are levelled.
Pointing out the recent rape and assault cases registered against their party MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly, the Congress leaders said if a case was registered against him based on the complaint of a woman, ruling party leaders should also be booked in a similar manner.
Union Minister V Muraleedharan also opined that Swapna’s revelations before the media should be considered as legal evidence and immediate action should be taken against the accused.
"Why the CPI(M) and the Chief Minister are not reacting to the charges raised by Swapna Suresh. She is talking with evidence. A case should be registered and the charges should be probed. There is absolutely no doubt about it," he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
Sharing similar views, Satheesan said serious charges were levelled against the ruling party leaders. "Let the accused CPI(M) leaders prove their innocence. We are not saying now that they are guilty. But if there is an allegation, it should be investigated. The government and the police should be ready for that," he said.
He also criticised a section of mainstream media which did not report the allegations raised by Swapna. "This is also a complaint by a woman. When a woman filed a complaint against Kunnappilly, we did not investigate the background of that complainant. We only said we would investigate the complaint and action would be taken," Satheesan added.
Meanwhile, Muraleedharan said the BJP wanted the Left government in the state to take immediate action over Swapna’s charges. "We would like to know the state government's reaction to the allegations raised by the woman. Why are they remaining silent?" he asked. The BJP leader also urged police to record the statement of Swapna Suresh based on her media interview.
With PTI Inputs
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