Palakkad: Amid growing controversy over the police raid at a Palakkad hotel, LDF Convenor TP Ramakrishnan and Minister MB Rajesh dismissed the inspection as routine.
"With new revelations about the BJP in the Kodakara hawala case, it’s only natural for police to conduct such raids during bypolls. Normally, all parties cooperate with these checks. We don’t understand why Congress is raising such a hue and cry," TP Ramakrishnan said in Kalpetta.
Minister Rajesh added, "Rooms of activists across political lines, including CPM member TV Rajesh and journalists like Nikesh Kumar, were inspected. They raised no issue. The claim that only the rooms of Congress women leaders were searched is false."
Palakkad LDF candidate P Sarin, who recently quit the Congress, said that the police got the information about the black money from the Congress. “The police got the information from the Congress. It was not a targetted search,” Sarin said.
Tension rose in Palakkad early Wednesday when police conducted a midnight search at a hotel, suspecting that black money might have been brought in to influence the Palakkad Assembly by-election. The search included rooms occupied by Congress leaders Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman.
Objections were raised when police attempted to enter a female leader’s room without female officers present. Congress supporters soon gathered outside the hotel to protest the police action. According to police, the raid was a routine search, and nothing was found in the rooms. A total of 12 rooms, occupied by leaders from various political parties, were inspected. The police added that hotel and lodge inspections will continue throughout the area to prevent any election malpractice ahead of the November 20 by-election.
Congress leaders and Lok Sabha MPs VK Sreekandan and Shafi Parambil condemned the search as a targeted action against their party and announced a protest march to the district police chief’s office on Wednesday.
CPM-led LDF and BJP leaders also arrived at the scene, with LDF representatives demanding a comprehensive review of all rooms and hotel CCTV footage. The Election Commission of India postponed the Palakkad Assembly bypoll from November 13 to November 20, citing the Kalpathi Ratholsavam festival. The by-election became necessary after sitting MLA and Congress leader Shafi Parambil was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vadakara constituency earlier this year.