(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) There was a strong demand from within the UDF to remove Pillai following the remarks he made in relation to the bar bribery case involving Finance Minister K M Mani.
Trivandrum: Kerala Congress (B) chairman R Balakrishna Pillai has put the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) on the tenterhooks by demanding an independent probe into the graft charges he and others levelled against various ministers.
Rejecting Wednesday’s UDF liaison committee plea to refrain from making wild charges against ministers and leaders of other coalition partners Pillai a co-founder of the UDF has not only continued his barbs but also dared the UDF leadership to remove him. He has refused to quit the UDF on his own.
There was a strong demand from within the UDF to remove Pillai following the remarks he made in relation to the bar bribery case involving Finance Minister K M Mani.
Apart from backing the charges levelled by the bar owners Pillai had also raised fresh charges against Mani in a private conversation with Biju Ramesh the whistle blower in the bar bribery case.
Kerala Congress (M) vice-chairman and government chief whip P C George had also made similar adverse remarks in the case but was let off after he agreed to abide by the UDF decisions.
However the meeting expressed displeasure against Pillai’s actions and asked him to correct his mistakes.
Responding to the UDF decision at a press conference here on Thursday Pillai said that he will mend his ways only after the injustice meted out to him by the UDF is undone. He accused the UDF especially Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of betraying him and his party by denying ministerial birth to his party legislator and son K B Ganesh Kumar.
He said that the government had also harassed him and his party by handing over the case related to the attack on a teacher working in a school managed by him to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Pillai said he had spoken about the corruption involving ministers as the government had not acted on the written complaint he submitted to the chief minister.
He pointed out that he had brought the charges against the finance minister to the notice of the chief minister before the bar owners came out with the allegations.
He said there were similar charges against some ministers also and demanded a probe by an external agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Kerala Congress (B) leader has vowed to fight against the corruption. He said he was also ready to cooperate with the opposition in the battle against corruption.
Chandy has refused to comment on Pillai’s charges saying he had other urgent matters to attend. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V M Sudheeran alleged that those alleging graft in the bar case were trying to create a cloud.
For more news from Khaleej Times follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes and on Twitter at khaleejtimes
Follow khaleejtimes ->
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.