Kochi: Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan has accepted CPM leader A K Balan's challenge over his allegations against Chief Minister's daughter Veena T Mathew declared that he will tender an apology to Veena if his allegations of tax evasion against her are proven wrong.

On Saturday, Mathew alleged that Veena's company Exalogic Solutions had evaded payment of Rs 1.72 crore as Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) in its deal with Kochi-based CMRL. Rubbishing this allegation, A K Balan on Sunday challenged Kuzhalnadan to approach the court and asked whether he will be ready to end his political life and issue a public apology if Veena proves that she had paid IGST.

Accepting this challenge, Kuzhalnadan asked Balan what will be his stance if Veena fails to prove that the charges are false.

“ I'm ready to apologise. I'm an ordinary person and Balan is a prominent leader. My question is what will be his next step if Veena fails to prove that she cleared the tax payment? Veena should release the documents related to the IGST payment of Rs 1.72 crore. I'm giving 24 hours for CPM to prove Veena's innocence,” he said while addressing the media here.

Meanwhile, former minister Thomas Isaac took a dig at Kuzhalnadan for finally accepting that Chief Minister's daughter Veena received the money from CMRL for the services provided by her firm.

“Now, the controversy over the monthly quota to CM's daughter has come to an end. Neither Kuzhalnadan nor his fans should use the term 'monthly quota' again. The story is over now. Clarification over the IGST payment is pending now. It will be reassessed by the respective department,” Thomas Isaac wrote on his Facebook page.

Ridiculing Kuzhalnadan, Isaac noted that no other lawyer would have faced such a defeat in a case initiated by himself.

Kuzhalnadan launched his attack against Veena and CPM after Malayala Manorama recently reported that Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd paid a total of Rs 1.72 crore to the CM's daughter between 2017 and 2020.

The news report, citing the recent ruling of an Interim Board for Settlement, said that the Kochi-based company previously had an agreement with Veena's IT firm for consultancy and software support services.