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Former minister KK Ramachandran, who was the other day suspended from the Congress, on Wednesday unleashed a scathing attack against State party chief Ramesh Chennithala and Opposition leader Oommen Chandy saying that they were united in victimizing those who spoke of their corruption.
Ramachandran, a two-time minister and six-time MLA, told newsmen in Kochi that the foundations of the party in Kerala had crumbled under the leadership of Chennithala and Chandy. This was why there were no huge crowds at the poll campaign programmes of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he said.
The AICC had on Tuesday suspended Ramachandran from the primary membership of the party for six years for launching an open attack against the leadership at a time when the Congress was facing a crucial election. At a press conference on March 29, he had accused Chennithala and then chief minister Chandy of corruption in a project at State-run Travancore Titanium, Thiruvananthapuram when the party-led UDF was in power in 2005.
Stating that Chennithala and Chandy had threatened him for not obeying their orders to accord approval the corrupt project when he was minister handling the anti-pollution portfolio, Ramachandran then accused them of running their rackets in the office of Sonia Gandhi. According to sources, this statement was the actual reason for the disciplinary action against him.
On Wednesday, Ramachandran raised fresh allegations against Chennithala. He said the State president was yet to present the details of accounts of the crores of rupees the party had collected in the recent past. “It was Chennithala who had handled these funds. But the details of these funds had not been presented anywhere,” he alleged.
Ramachandran, who was denied ticket in the Assembly election, said that the reason for action against him was not violation of discipline or his statement that candidatures were allocated on the basis of payment. “I haven’t said anything against the high command or Sonia Gandhi. I was victimized for pointing out the corruption of the leaders,” he said.
At the same time, a section in the Congress party believes that Ramachandran’s attacks against the party leadership is part of his plan to move into the CPI(M) but he denied such rumours by saying that he had been a Congressman since 1954 and would remain in the party till death.
Ramachandran’s critics say that he had turned against the leadership after he failed to get candidature in the Kalpetta seat which was contested by the Socialist Janata (Democratic) for the Congress-led UDF. He had tried his level best to get the ticket for Kalpetta and had requested top leaders including AK Antony for this, they say.
Ramachandran, a two-time minister and six-time MLA, told newsmen in Kochi that the foundations of the party in Kerala had crumbled under the leadership of Chennithala and Chandy. This was why there were no huge crowds at the poll campaign programmes of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he said.
The AICC had on Tuesday suspended Ramachandran from the primary membership of the party for six years for launching an open attack against the leadership at a time when the Congress was facing a crucial election. At a press conference on March 29, he had accused Chennithala and then chief minister Chandy of corruption in a project at State-run Travancore Titanium, Thiruvananthapuram when the party-led UDF was in power in 2005.
Stating that Chennithala and Chandy had threatened him for not obeying their orders to accord approval the corrupt project when he was minister handling the anti-pollution portfolio, Ramachandran then accused them of running their rackets in the office of Sonia Gandhi. According to sources, this statement was the actual reason for the disciplinary action against him.
On Wednesday, Ramachandran raised fresh allegations against Chennithala. He said the State president was yet to present the details of accounts of the crores of rupees the party had collected in the recent past. “It was Chennithala who had handled these funds. But the details of these funds had not been presented anywhere,” he alleged.
Ramachandran, who was denied ticket in the Assembly election, said that the reason for action against him was not violation of discipline or his statement that candidatures were allocated on the basis of payment. “I haven’t said anything against the high command or Sonia Gandhi. I was victimized for pointing out the corruption of the leaders,” he said.
At the same time, a section in the Congress party believes that Ramachandran’s attacks against the party leadership is part of his plan to move into the CPI(M) but he denied such rumours by saying that he had been a Congressman since 1954 and would remain in the party till death.
Ramachandran’s critics say that he had turned against the leadership after he failed to get candidature in the Kalpetta seat which was contested by the Socialist Janata (Democratic) for the Congress-led UDF. He had tried his level best to get the ticket for Kalpetta and had requested top leaders including AK Antony for this, they say.
