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Petrol pump scandal in Kerala : BJP allegedly involved

	September 04, 2006

An internal probe report of the BJP, revealed by a national newspaper, the Indian Express, shows that the party allegedly made Rs. 18 crore by selling petrol pumps while the National Democratic Alliance was in power at the Centre. The report says that a coterie led by a top RSS nominee in the party pocketed a substantial part of the money. The report was by a high level panel which was set up to investigate the BJP’s poor performance in a Lok Sabha byelection. The report says that the money was diverted by some elements for anti-party activities.



State BJP president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, asked abut the report, declined to say if his party intended to take action on the basis of its own probe report.



“This is an internal issue of our party. Even our state committee has yet to view and discuss the probe report. Besides, the report has only passing references (about the petrol pump scam). Where is the evidence to substantiate those ? I do not want to comment any more,” he said.



Interestingly, this was while his predecessor and senior colleague K. Raman Pillai, who was state president soon after the scam, was quoted in the probe report as saying that the party’s organizing secretary for Kerala and Tamil Nadu, P.P. Mukundan and its state Treasurer, Narayanan Nair, had collected about Rs. 18 crore - but accounted for only Rs. 2 crore.



Pillai goes on to explain that party workers were actually offered a discount on the bribe : “In the Quilon district committee meeting, Prof. Nair demanded Rs. 20 lakh from party workers and Rs. 25 lakh from others for getting sanction for petrol pumps. This can be seen in the minutes of the meeting.”



The state BJP’s official spokesperson, B.K. Shekhar, backs that in his own testimony : “Money collected from the petrol pump scam has been lavishly spent among workers for carrying out anti-party activities.”



A state BJP leader said that the Kerala unit had been “allowed” by the national leadership to “accept donations” in return for allocating petrol pumps. “But we made the mistake of allowing a party caucus to handle that and keep the money themselves, since we did not want to put it in the party’s bank accounts. They did not hand it over and the party obviously cannot have any legal recourse.”



The high-level committee which probed the Lok Sabha poll debacle and allegations of vote transfer in Kerala comprised two state vice presidents, Mohan Shanker and Manjeri Narayanan, and former state DGP and BJP state human rights cell chief R.P.C. Nair.



The probe was ordered after the party’s Lok Sabha by-poll defeat in Thiruvanthapuram - its former state president C.K. Padmanabhan polled just 37,000 votes while he was expected to get about a lakh.



But more worrying for the BJP may be the way the probe report says a powerful coterie led by Mukundan, who had made a lateral entry into the BJP as the state organizing secretary nominated by the RSS in the late 1980s, has been functioning. According to the report, Mukundan and his men worked overtime to ensure that the BJP candidate lost by transferring votes en bloc to both the Left and Congress candidates.





Ujjain murder : Top ABVP men charged



Madhya Pradesh police have arrested Akhil Bharati Vidyarathi Parishad state president Shashiranjan Akela and oraganising secretary Vimal Tomar in connection with the brutal killing of Ujjain Professor H.S. Sabharwal. The two activists of the ABVP, a sister organisation of the BJP, were produced before a judicial magistrate on Thursday, August 31, and remanded in police custody. Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had tried to write off the killing as an accident. The arrests and the murder charge followed an inquiry by a CID team.



Observers say that the police action, five days after a group of ABVP workers thrashed the professor for canceling students union elections has done little to contain the damage to the Chauhan Government image. The Chief Minister’s statement on Wednesday that the Professor’s death was “an accident” was followed by BJP president Satyanarayan Jatia’s charge that the Congress was behind the attack. More shocking was state PWD Minister Kailash Vijayvargiva’s stance. He accused Himanshu, the Professor’s son, of staging a publicity stunt by accusing the police of inaction. The insensitivity was reflected in other BJP leaders’ statements too.



DGP Swaraj Puri, however, defended the Ujjain police, which has come under attack for its dubious role in the incident. Addressing a press conference, Puri said the investigation was proceeding in the right direction



In New Delhi, the BJP did a swift U-turn, coming to the defence of ABVP saying it does not believe any organisation was involved in the attack. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar, whose party until Wednesday had distanced itself from the assault, told reporters that the police investigation into the murder of Professor Sabharwal was heading in the “right direction” in the party-ruled state.



“We do not believe any organisation is behind it,” Javadekar said. He also insisted that another victim of the assault has alleged that he was manhandled by the NSUI activists.





Act impartially : Governor tells Chief Minister



State Governor Balram Jakhar has asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to act impartially and prosecute the guilty involved in Prof. Sabharwal’s death. He said the state government should act fast in such cases to avoid question marks over its credibility.



The Congress had earlier submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking his permission to lodge a criminal complaint against the Chief Minister for allegedly trying to influence the probe into Prof. Sabharwal’s killing.



Though the Governor did not give his permission, the Congress tried to get an FIR registered against Chauhan in a police station. The police, however, did not register the case against Chauhan, saying there was no evidence against him.



In the meantime, the police have provided increased security for a key witness to the assault on Prof. Sabharwal.





NDA allies move away from BJP



Observers say that with the increased BJP emphasis on Hindutva, its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have started distancing themselves from the saffron camp. In a stern rebuff to the BJP, the Janata Dal (United) has decided to oppose any move to ban religious conversions in Jharkhand, where the two parties share power. Party president Sharad Yadav released a resolution on August 27 which had been passed by a two-day national executive meeting of the party in the national capital. It opposed any ban on conversions.



The JDU resolution appears to be a part of the strategy adopted by the Sharad Yadav-Nitish Kumar combine, which is now ruling the roost in the party after NDA convener George Fernandes lost the election for party president, to get the party to move out of the BJP shadow and re-establish its identity as a secular force.



The Fernandes camp appears to be unhappy at the way decisions are being taken by Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar. Fernandes did not attend the party national executive meeting saying that he was not consulted for holding the meeting. The Fernandes camp is also not happy at the party decision to align with Apna Dal in Uttar Pradesh. Sources close to the dissident camp said that the sole aim of the Sharad-Nitish combine appears to be to see Samajwadi party leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav defeated. This, according to them, is the goal of the Congress also.



Another setback for the BJP came last week with the announcement in West Bengal by Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee of her decision to support the Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha byelection from Malda. The Malda byelection is scheduled for September 16. It was caused by the death of veteran Congress leader A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chaudhary. Mamata Banerjee said on August 28 that her decision to support the Congress candidate Abu Hashim Khan Chaudhary, younger brother of the deceased leader, was prompted by her respect for the late leader.



The BJP which has also put up a candidate in Malda is upset by Mamata Banerjee’s action. The party’s fear is that this may be the start of Mamata Banerjee’s return to the Congress fold or at least collaboration with the national party.



Observers say that there are indications that the Congress and Mamata Banerjee may again be coming close. The Congress has decided to fight only the Purullia and Malda Lok Sabha by elections while not putting up candidates in two other constituencies of Katwa and Bongaon where the Trinamul Congress has a presence.



Mamata who had camped in Delhi for two weeks, had seriously worked on this seat adjustment with the Congress high command. She also met Priyaranjan Dasmunshi and discussed the issue with him.



“This is just the beginning of another attempt for an understanding between Mamata and the Congress in West Bengal. In fact, Mamata is considering fighting the next Panchayat, municipal and Lok Sabha elections - due in the next two years - by striking an alliance with the Congress or by reaching a seat adjustment with them,” said a close aide of Mamata.





Vajpayee, Advani pressed for terrorist Masood Azhar’s release



Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has alleged that the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then Home Minister L.K. Advani compelled him to release Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar in the 1999 Kandhar hijack episode.



Breaking his silence on the issue, the former ally of the ruling NDA said he had unsuccessfully desired to resign in view of the compelling directives of Vajpayee and Advani instead of being seen as “one responsible for promoting terrorism in this form.” He said the Central pressure on him to release terrorists in December 1999 was similar to the one he underwent after the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. “As far as Maulana Masood Azhar is concerned, the decision to release him and the two others was made by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani,” Dr. Abdullah told a news magazine.



The National Conference has said that the BJP should apologise to the nation for having released the most dreaded terrorist when it headed the Government at the Centre.



The Congress, on its part, asked the BJP to clarify its position on the charges levelled by Farooq Abdullah. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said on August 28 that those who talked “pompously of nationalism and wear the badge of national security are the people who betrayed. The nation is waiting for an answer.”



BJP national executive to focus on Assembly elections



A three-day meeting of the BJP national executive is being held in Dehradun from Sept. 7 with the focus expected to be on the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Punjab. Observers say that the BJP appears to be a worried lot as there appears to be no improvement in its prospects in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.



Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is reported to be keeping away from all party programmes and functions, adding to the party’s worries. In Punjab, the Akali Dal is reported to be moving towards fighting the elections alone, ending its alliance with the BJP. This follows a survey conducted by the party which indicated that the alliance with the BJP could cost the Akali Dal dearly in the coming Assembly elections.