Police Probe On Into “Cash For Vote” Charge Against BJP Sobha Surendran
Thiruvananthapuram: The ‘cash for votes’ controversy involving BJP Palakkad assembly candidate Sobha Surendran took a new turn on Saturday after the party suspended a senior official from Alappuzha district.
The state BJP leadership suspended Alappuzha North district vice-president Bindu Vinayakumar for speaking against Sobha for her alleged role in the scandal. Bindu claimed that Sobha called her accusing her of organizing the incident in Palakkad.
In an audio clip doing the rounds in the media, Sobha allegedly questioned whether the woman at the center of the controversy hailed from Alappuzha. The call reportedly took place on Friday morning.
Earlier, Kerala police had registered an FIR against identifiable NDA representatives in Palakkad on Wednesday after they were accused of giving money to an elderly woman named Devu in Kannadi area of Palakkad assembly constituency.
The NDA representatives were booked under sections 170(1)(i) and 173 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for electoral gratification and bribery, as well as sections 123(a)(1)(2) of the Representation of the People Act for bribery and undue influence over voters.
It may be recalled that Congress workers shared footage at Taruvakurissi in Kannadi panchayat, claiming to show a BJP worker putting something in the hand of an old woman and quickly leaving, minutes after Shobha Surendran visited to campaign for the April 9 assembly elections. They alleged that the BJP worker offered money in exchange for votes by distributing the photo of the woman holding a 500 rupee note.
Shobha Surendran denied the accusations saying that no one listened to her, she was insulted and the man filming made obscene gestures and it was a pre-planned incident.
The Election Flight Squad and the Special Branch conducted a preliminary investigation into allegations that currency notes were used to influence votes against the BJP in Palakkad. The Election Commission intervened and Chief Electoral Officer Rathan Kelkar ordered a detailed investigation into the incident. Sobha gave a statement regarding the allegations to the Chief Revenue Officer on Friday.
