India News | Manjeswaram Poll Bribery Case: Police Book BJP Kerala Chief Surendran

Kasaragod (Ker), Jun 7 (PTI) BJP's Kerala chief K Surendran has been booked by police for a non-bailable offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly forcing a Dalit candidate to withdraw from contesting in the 2021 Assembly polls from the Manjeswaram constituency.

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BJP leader advocate P Sudheer on Tuesday termed the police move a political conspiracy against Surendran under the leadership of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

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The police, in a report filed in court on Monday, has said that they were booking the BJP state president for the offence of forcing or intimidating a member of SC or ST community not to file nomination or withdraw their candidature as provided under section 3(1)(l)(B) of the SC/ST Act, according to sources.

The maximum punishment for the offence is five years imprisonment with fine and the minimum is six months jail term.

The police report comes nearly a year after the case was registered against Surendran for allegedly threatening and bribing Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) candidate K Sundara to withdraw from contesting for the Manjeswaram constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls in the state.

Sudheer, defending the BJP state president, told reporters that the case against Surendran was part of a political conspiracy of the LDF to put him behind bars by whatever means possible.

The BJP leader claimed that no offence under the SC/ST Act was made out against Surendran as the BSP candidate had on his own decided to withdraw his candidature and had said so in affidavits placed before the police and election commission officials.

Therefore, the entire case against the BJP state president "was one hundred per cent fabricated", Sudheer contended and said that the party will neither accept it nor allow it to go on.

He also claimed that the latest charge was an abuse of the SC/ST Act by the ruling party for political gains and to silence the voice of the BJP state president.

He further contended that Surendran has been booked for the non-bailable offence as police could not find any evidence to connect him to the election bribery case.

He demanded that the state government put an end to the political conspiracy against Surendran or face vehement opposition and protests from the BJP and its supporters across the state.

The case against Surendran was registered as per the directions of a magisterial court which considered a petition filed by V V Ramesan, the CPI(M) candidate who fought the election against Surendran in Manjeswaram.

The case was filed under sections 171 (B) and (E) (Bribery) of the IPC.

Sundara, who filed his nomination as a BSP candidate, had alleged that he was initially threatened and later given Rs 2.5 lakh as bribe by the BJP to withdraw from the contest.

He had alleged that it was Sunil Naik, a Yuva Morcha leader and a close aide of the BJP state president Surendran who handed over the money and a smart phone.

The BJP has dismissed all allegations and termed it as a conspiracy against the party.

Sundara, a Yakshagana artiste, had contested in 2016 but had withdrawn in 2021 in order to allegedly help Surendran win.

Surendran, however, lost the election from Manjeswaram in 2021.

IUML's A K M Ashraf won the seat in 2021 with 65,758 votes, while Surendran managed to bag 65,013 votes. V V Ramesan got 40,639 votes.

Sundara had secured 467 votes in the 2016 election from Manjeswaram in which Surendran had lost to the UDF candidate by 89 votes.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)