THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress party in Kerala has suffered a major political setback with the Wayanad police slapping charges of abetment to suicide against Sulthan Bathery MLA and Congress leader I.C. Balakrishnan.
The case has been filed as part of the investigation into the suspected death by suicide of former District Congress Committee (DCC) secretary N. M. Vijayan and his son, Jijesh on December 27. Also named in the case are Wayanad DCC president N. D. Appachan, former DCC treasurer K. K. Gopinathan and the late DCC president P. V. Balachandran. The investigation was necessitated by the letters purportedly sent by Vijayan to his relatives and party colleagues before his death.
Vijayan, 78, a former president of the Sulthan Bathery grama panchayat, and his son, Jijesh, 38, a former employee of Sulthan Bathery Urban Cooperative Bank, were found dead at their residence by neighbours on December 24 after allegedly consuming poison. They were rushed to the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, but they died on December 27.
The distraught family of Vijayan released four suicide letters, including the ones addressed to his elder son, Vijesh, and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran. In one of the letters, Vijayan apologises for the financial liabilities.
One letter highlights Vijayan’s dedication and commitment to the Congress. It says that Vijayan had devoted nearly 50 years of his life to the Congress. Vijayan also wants the letters to be published if the party fails to intervene after his death. Vjayan’s sense of desperation was evident from the letter which says that the situation had become untenable and death was he only solution for the crisis.
The letter addressed to Sudhakaran says that he received money with the leadership’s knowledge, including Sulthan Bathery MLA I.C. Balakrishnan, for appointments in cooperative banks controlled by the Congress. He accuses the leadership of distancing themselves when the complications arose. It also blames the leaders for causing him financial stress.
Vijayan had also implicated Balakrishnan in the letter addressed to the Congress leadership, including the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi.
The letters, received by many relatives, claimed that Balakrishnan had allegedly sought bribes from people for a job in the Congress-controlled local cooperative bank. The leadership had forced him to be a guarantor for the bribes.
It may be mentioned that the KPCC president had denied reading the letter sent to him by Vijayan. But Vijayan’s son Vijesh said he personally met Sudhakaran and handed over the letter. He himself read it out to the KPCC chief who then promised to look into it. Vijesh also met the LoP at his office in his constituency, Paravur and handed over the letter to him as well. The attitude of both leaders was anything but positive, claimed Vijesh and his wife, Padmaja. They also said no Congress leader except K. Muralidharan came to their house after the death of their father. Nor did anybody contact them over the phone. Neither MLA Balakrishnan nor DCC chief Appachan visited them even after the cremation.
Later, the Congress leaders met the family members of Vijayan in a delegation led by Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and promised to address the concerns voiced by the family. Radhakrishnan heads a committee formed by the Congress to enquire into the death of Vijayan and his son.
Meanwhile, the police have said that the alleged suicide notes would be sent to a forensic laboratory for analysis shortly. Evidence would be collected from the individuals named in the notes. The Vigilance wing has also filed a case in connection with the incident, and have gathered evidence from four persons, including Vijayan’s son Vijesh.
In another development, the CPI(M) State Committee, which met in the State capital on January 7, demanded the resignation of MLA Balakrishnan, in connection with the developments.
The incident has pushed the Congress in Kerala on the defensive. The huge setback has come at a time when the top leaders are vying with one other to gain supremacy in the party. Leader of the Opposition suffered a rude jolt when both the Nair Service Society (NSS) and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), representative organisations of Nairs and Ezhavas respectively openly preferred senior party leader and former home minister Ramesh Chennithala for the post of chief minister should the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) succeeds in ousting the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The suicide abetment case has tarnished the image of the Congress and dented the party’s confidence which was high in the wake of the impressive performance in the Lok Sabha elections. It is a double whammy for the Congress, which has been shaken to the very core by the suicide abetment case. (IPA Service)
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