Kerala polls: Chandy rubbishes Saritha's allegations of sexual abuse, Opposition attacks him

Thiruvananthapuram:  Rubbishing allegations of sexual abuse leveled by solar scam accused Saritha S Nair, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday said people will give a befitting reply to it in the 16 May assembly polls even as the Opposition attacked him and demanded a through inquiry against him and other ministers. A smiling Chandy said he was leading a “model” family life. “We will see what all steps have to be taken legally to fight it out,” he told reporters at his official residence ‘Cliff House’. Saritha had alleged in a 25-page purported letter, which she had claimed to have written in 2013 while in police custody after her arrest in the solar panel scam, that she had been sexually abused by Chandy at his official residence.

Seizing on the matter, Opposition leader and Marxist veteran V S Achutanandan sought an apology from the Chief Minister for “misusing” his official position “to exploit a hapless woman” who had come to him seeking help. “The allegation was extremely serious,” he said. He also sought a thorough inquiry into the allegations of Saritha and said Chandy and others named by her, including ministers Adoor Prakash, A P Anil Kumar, former union minister K C Venugopal, Jose K Mani, MP and MLAs Hibi Eden and P C Vishnunath should be brought to book. Asked about fielding of certain ’tainted’ ministers, Chandy said in the last five years he had faced the maximum allegations. “What corruption and against whom. Corruption and allegations are entirely different. Anyone can raise allegations. But if there is truth in even one per cent of the allegations, it is a serious situation,” he said. With regard to certain controversial land allotment decisions taken by the government, which later modified them, he said they were all unanimous Cabinet decisions and “I will never hold any particular person responsible”. Chandy said he did not want to go into the details of discussions with party high command on the preparation of candidates list for the polls. “We all are confident that the high command would select the best candidates for the polls”. He said the AICC is expected to announce the Congress list for the assembly polls either on Monday or Tuesday. Some AICC leaders have gone to Tamil Nadu and when they return to Delhi, the list would be released, he said.