Kerala hands over solar scam cases to CBI: Chandy says not afraid, BJP dubs it 'political drama'

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 24 : Reacting to Kerala Government's decision to hand over Solar Scam cases to CBI, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy on Sunday said he is not afraid of any probe and that the decision would boomerang on Left Democratic Front ( LDF).
"Being in power for the last five years, the LDF government did nothing. Now, when assembly polls are nearing the decision has been made to handover the case to CBI. In the first place, the case itself is politically motivated. I am not afraid of any probe," Chandy one of the accused in the case told media persons on Sunday.
Chandy who is the head of the ten-member Assembly Election management and strategy committee constituted by All India Congress Committee (AICC) said that people of Kerala would reject the "ploy" of the Left government.
Congress leaders including Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullapally Ramachandran and KC Joseph rallied behind Chandy, BJP, on the other hand, alleged that the LDF government has deceived the people of Kerala by handing over the probe to CBI.
BJP state president K Surendran said that the CPI(M) government has decided to handover the case to the CBI in the run-up to the Assembly elections 2021 to deceive the people.
"The Left, which came to power after raising the solar controversy, for the last five years has not moved a single finger in this case. The Pinarayi government did nothing even though there was sexual abuse allegation levelled by the victim against Congress leaders. Now giving the case to the CBI is a political drama," he said.
Surendran said that the solar case sabotage is a direct example of UDF-LDF mutual understanding.
"The Oommen Chandy government saved the top leaders of the CPI(M) by creating a similar political understanding in the TP murder case as well. It is strange that the CPI(M), which opposes the CBI in the Life Mission scam, dollar smuggling, the political double murder case, and the Lavlin case, wants the CBI in the solar case. With this, the people came to realize that the Left's double standard against the central agencies was purely political," he said.
The Kerala Government has decided to handover the Solar Scam cases -- in which many Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and national general secretary KC Venugopal are in the list of accused -- to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The decision was taken based on the request of a rape victim, the complainant in the case pertaining to alleged sexual abuse. As many as six cases of the solar scam that were being probed by the Crime Branch have been handed over to CBI, according to a notification issued by the Kerala Home Department in this regard.
The scam had created a political storm in Kerala during the fag end of the last Oommen Chandy government and had become one of the main election planks of the Left Democratic Front ( LDF) during the last assembly polls in 2016. The list of cases handed over to CBI includes allegations raised against Congress leaders Oommen Chandy, KC Venugopal, Hibi Eden, AP Anil Kumar, and Adoor Prakash. The case taken against BJP leader AP Abdullakutty is also in the list.
The solar scam took place in 2013 when the United Democratic Front (UDF) government led by Chandy was in power. Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy is also accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 1.9 crore in the matter.
The solar panel scam involved a fraudulent solar energy company, Team Solar Energy, which duped several people to the tune of crores of rupees.