Left demands Chandy's role in solar scam be probed

Kerala's opposition LDF Tuesday said it will submit its views on the terms of reference of the judicial probe into the solar scam, among which would be whether the role of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy would be within its ambit.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, senior Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislator C. Divakaran told reporters that they will have one more meeting Wednesday before they submit their views to the state government.

"The major condition is that the role of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has also to be probed and there are no two opinions on that demand of ours... in fact our only demand is that," he said.

The judicial probe was announced last Tuesday by Chandy, a day after Left supporters began their indefinite siege of the state secretariat.

The Left had said they will not call off their siege till Chandy resigns and orders a judicial probe.

However, after around 30 hours, the protesters started getting restless and in face of the huge security setup, including central forces, the Left leadership ended the stir after Chandy announced a probe.

Chandy had then said that neither he nor his office will come under the probe.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Delhi, Chandy Tuesday said that the government has no prejudice over the judicial probe.

"We expected that the Left opposition would come for a discussion on the terms of reference. Even if they are not coming all their requests would be looked into. Till today they have not been able to establish anything to implicate the chief minister in the scam," he said.

The scam related to con-couple, Saritha Nair and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan, allegedly defrauding people by offering solar energy solutions at huge discounts and not delivering.

They allegedly used their clout in Chandy's office for duping people and as a result one of his office staff Tenny Jopan was arrested and is still in jail.

Two others in his office were later dismissed for their links with the con-couple, who are currently behind bars.

State Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who was entrusted to do the preliminary work for the probe, told the media that the government on the job.

The state cabinet last week had officially cleared the judicial probe and it remains to be seen if a sitting judge of the Kerala High Court would be available to head the probe.