Disclosures over solar panel lead to war of words between Congress leaders

Kottayam: Congress leaders Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K C Joseph differed over the party's response to the latest disclosures regarding the Justice G Sivarajan Commission which investigated the solar scam which had embarrassed the Oommen Chandy regime a decade ago.

The dispute was sparked by a comment by Joseph that Congress leaders had not responded vocally over the recent disclosures by CPI leader C Divakaran and former Director General of Police A Hemachandran which have been favourable to the Oommen Chandy administration.

However, Thiruvanchoor shot back at Joseph, saying that even very senior Congress leaders such as A K Antony, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran and the party’s all-India general secretary K C Venugopal had made sharp remarks on the revelations.

“All Congress leaders hold Oommen Chandy in high esteem and he is a common treasure of the party. Everyone has worked with mutual trust and affection with Chandy. I don’t want to start a row over him,” said Thiruvanchoor.

“In fact, I am one among the five leaders against whom the Solar Commission had recommended action. According to the panel, I was guilty of offering undue support to Oommen Chandy,” said Thiruvanchoor.

“However, the names of none of the leaders criticizing me now were mentioned in the Solar Commission report,” Thiruvanchoor added.

“The Congress has complete trust in Oommen Chandy. All groups had supported him unitedly in the solar case,” he said.

Thiruvanchoor also reiterated that he was against appointing Justice Sivarajan to the inquiry commission.

Meanwhile, Thiruvanchoor recalled that he was shifted from the post of Home Minister following the Solar case and wondered whether anything changed after that.

In the recent disclosures, former DGP Hemachandran – who headed the police probe into the solar scam - said that he had not informed the then Home Minister Thiruvanchoor about the arrest of Tenny Joppen, a member of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s staff. A huge controversy erupted after this arrest.

At the same time, Joseph said that Chandy had learnt about the arrest from TV channels.

“If I had removed Hemachandran from the solar investigation team for arresting Joppen without informing me, the media and the then opposition would have launched an intense campaign against me,” said Thiruvanchoor.

He said that, at that time, he had asked Hemachandran whether Joppen was arrested based on clear evidence and proper investigation. “Hemachandran replied in the affirmative,” said Thiruvanchoor.

He also said that nobody had raised any complaint about the police team which probed the solar case.

After Thiruvanchoor was stripped of the Home portfolio, it was handed over to Ramesh Chennithala.

Kanam’s response

Kanam Rajendran, state secretary of the CPI, said that one cannot agree with all findings of the solar commission.

Regarding Hemachandran’s book of memoirs in which he made the disclosures, Kanam said that many retired Indian Police Officers were writing service stories. “But you cannot consider all their statements to be true,” he said.

The revelations by fellow CPI leader Divakaran also need not be the truth, said Kanan. “Divakaran could have made the statements on the solar commission to boost the sales of his book,” said Kanam.

While Divakaran said that Justice Sivarajan had collected an amount of Rs 5 crore and prepared a report against the Oommen Chandy government, Hemachandran alleged that the judicial commission was interested in learning lewd details rather than seeking the truth.

Sudhakaran’s reaction

KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said that the recent statements reveal that the CPM and the present Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had launched a witch-hunt against Oommen Chandy and UDF leaders.

Satheesan flays panel

Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said that the disclosures prove that the solar commission was a farce.