The sensational solar panel scam involving Saritha S Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan had rocked the state staining the image of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his UDF government.
The solar energy company involved used two women to make political contacts reaching even far as the CM’s office, duped many influential big shots into installing solar power units and making them business partners and receiving advance payments for the same. The latest turn of events is likely to put Chandy under trouble with the complainant in one of the solar scam related cases, Sreedharan Nair, revealing on Wednesday that he stood firm in his statement against the Chief Minister. He revealed before the Judicial Commission investigating the case that he had gone to the meet the Chief Minister in his office along with Saritha and Tenny Joppan, an aide and personal staff member of CM. In another significant statement Nair also disclosed that ADGP Hemachandran had asked him to remove Chandy’s name from the statement and that many top politicians tried to influence him with black money to withdraw the case. He revealed that the AGDP also warned him about the grave consequences of going against the CM.
But the government, infamous for corruption and abuse of power, doesn’t seem to be concerned at all. The Chandy government had earlier withdrawn the case against the RSS/ABVP followers for hurling a bomb and injuring a police officer at the MG College in Thiruvananthapuram. It had also withdrawn a case against Praveen Togadiya, the extreme Hindu fanatic. The government also withdrew the case against KSU followers who poured engine oil on higher secondary education director Keshvendra Kumar, sparking controversies and inviting critisisms. The Supreme Court recently stayed the government decision to withdraw the Palmolein import scam. The Chief Minister reacted to the court order by appointing Jiji Thompson, the accused in the case, as the Chief Secretary. The incidents show a plain misuse of power by the government and using the senior officers for personal motives.
Despite all the allegations and the controversies, the Chief Minister moves ahead persistent and unabated inside the party and the government thanks to the presence of an extremely fragile Opposition that fail to utter even the feeblest response. The Chandy government has failed the people who have already lost trust in the government. It exists only because of a weaker Opposition. The government as well as the people should also be aware of the communal Fascist forces that are looking for an opportunity to grab the situation into their hands and the grim political reality existing in the state.