Kerala BJP chief Surendran booked for bribing his namesake

Kasargode: Adding fury to the already simmering BJP's black money controversy in Kerala, a bribery case has been registered against BJP's Kerala President K Surendran with a local court's permission.

Surendran and the other two leaders have been accused of paying a bribe to a candidate, whose name resembles Surendran's, to withdraw his nomination during the State Assembly election held last April.

One of the candidates K Sundara, who contested on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket for Assembly Election in 2016, alleged that Surendran paid him 2.5 lakh and a smartphone for taking back his nomination paper and offered him another 15 lakhs, a home and a wine parlour in Karnataka if Surendran wins.

The CPI (M) candidate in Manjeswaram, V V Ramesan, lodged the complaint, while Surendran and his party denied it. Though the court allowed registering a case, it ruled out any arrest for the moment. V V Rameshan had finished third in the constituency, while United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate AKM Ashraff won, defeating Surendran for 745 votes.

K Sundara had defeated Surendran for a thin margin of 89 votes in the 2016 state assembly elections. Sundara, who contested as independent then, had secured 467 votes. This time contesting under the BSP's ticket, Sundara would have appeared just above Surendran's name in the voting machine, and it could have had harmed BJP. But Sundara withdrew his nomination at the 11th hour.

Surendran's name is also involved in the Kodakara hawala case. His son Hariskrishnan's name also came up regarding the case, and police will question him, according to reports.