Solar: Cong leader Murali says his remarks twisted

Facing flak from the party for his critical comments about the probe into solar scam, former KPCC president K Muraleedharan today said his statement was 'misinterpreted' as he did not mean any ill-will towards Chief Minister Oommen Chandy or any other leader.

'What I sought to put across was that the government and the party should remain alert against those trying to destabilise the government,' he said.

'It has been made clear by the party high command that a change of leadership is not on the cards and I had no intention to question (it),' Muraleedharan, a legislator and son of late Congress veteran K Karunakaran, told reporters here.

He said he would explain this to the central leaders if they sought any clarification on his statement.

Muraleedharan had on Sunday said probe into the solar scam, which has been rocking the state for nearly a month, was not moving in proper direction with investigators being selective in their approach.

His comments were seen as a reflection of factional trends in the state unit and he was censured by KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, though both of them belong to the faction known as 'I' group in the state Congress.

Meanwhile, Chandy asserted that the hue and cry over solar scam did in no way affect the performance of his government which is based on 'development and care.'

The Opposition's propaganda that the state was suffering from administrative paralysis was totally baseless, as it was during this period that work on some of the major projects like Kochi Metro rail got underway, the Chief Minister said at an official function here.

Chandy has been under attack from CPI(M)-led LDF Opposition in context of solar scam, which pertains to cheating of several persons of huge sums by accused Saritha Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan offering them solar energy business deals.

In luring their victims, the duo had allegedly flaunted their 'influence' with some people in the Chief Minister's Office, bringing Chandy under a cloud.