Thrissur: V T Balram MLA has taunted actor Suresh Gopi, the NDA’s candidate for the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, over his involvement in the Puducherry car registration scam. In a Facebook post, Balram has congratulated Suresh Gopi for ‘swallowing Rs 15 lakh without waiting for the money that was promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.’ Balram’s post has gone viral.
Earlier, there were reports that the actor had evaded vehicle tax amounting to Rs 15 lakh in Kerala by registering his luxury car in Puducherry paying a mere Rs 1.5 lakh. Balram referred to this savings of Rs 15 lakh made by Suresh Gopi to ridicule him.
The actor had argued that he had registered his car in the address of his farmland in Puducherry. However, an investigation found that no such land existed. Suresh Gopi had registered two vehicles in Puducherry, one each before and after he became a Rajya Sabha MP.
The actor, in an election speech, had also commented that many people had the misunderstanding that ‘Modiji would give Rs 15 lakh to each citizen.’ Suresh Gopi was referring to the promise made by Modi to credit Rs 15 lakh in the account of each Indian.
Suresh Gopi had delivered the controversial speech in the presence of NDA candidate for Pathanamthitta K Surendran. “What Narendra Modi meant was that there was enough money stacked away in Swiss banks that could be shared by all Indian citizens at Rs 15 lakh each. But that does not mean that he would milk that cash cow and put them in everyone's account,” said the NDA’s Thrissur candidate.
Balram’s post also played on this rhetoric of the NDA candidate.
