G. Shaktidharan: Former Associate Editor of Deshabhimani Daily (CPM)
G. Shakthidharan took to Facebook On August 17 wherein he alleged that during 2015, money packed in pandanus leaves was collected from Deshabhimani Kochi by no less a person than Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, the then CPM state secretary, and the man who took it to AKG Centre was P. Rajeev, the incumbent state industries minister and one of the blue-eyed boys of Vijayan.
AKG Centre is the Kerala state headquarters of CPM. Shakthidharan also stated that he was a witness to the packing and Deshabhimani employees were assigned to accept the money. He alleges the fattest currency bundle was sent by Cochin Minerals & Rutile Limited (CMRL). This correspondent reminds the readers of the story carried by this journal on August 9, 2023.
The story explained the verdict of the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board functioning under Section 245AA of the Income Tax Act that the payment of Rs 1.72 cr was given to CM’s daughter Veena Vijayan and her company Exalogic Solutions by CMRL between 2017 and 2020.
Shakthidharan’s FB post says that CMRL’s bundle was handed over to K. Venugopal, his (Shakthidharan’s) close friend and Deputy General Manager of Desabhimani who is also an old friend of S.N. Sasidharan Kartha, the MD of CMRL. Shakthidharan says, P. Rajeev kept on saying that a ‘big shot’ was expected to arrive. But, at last it was only Rs 5 lakhs !
Shakthidharan says, the Party Secretary told that the rest of the donors may bring the money to the party headquarters (perhaps the two days’ target had been crossed).
The FB post says that nothing would have happened if he had revealed that the then party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan stayed in Deshabhimani office in Kochi for two days and collected Rs 2.35 cr mysteriously, sans receipt or any sort of document, and took it to Thiruvananthapuram and the present industries minister P. Rajeev carried it to AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
Nothing else can be expected. If he had exposed that party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had collected ‘two large packets’ from a five-star hotel in Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, and brought them, by car, to AKG Centre, nothing would have happened. Here, he discloses the name of the owner of the hotel.
He says nothing changed after three High Court judges delivered the verdict that much higher sums of money were accepted by Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena on a monthly or annual basis.
Nothing happened when a judge challenged in public that Pinarayi is a Mafia Don and he had sufficient evidence in his computer. And, nothing will happen if deals of mountains of waste in Kochi or rapport with Gokulam Gopalan (boss of a giant finance business house, hotelier and a movie producer) or mysterious dealings with Faris Abubaker or businessmen like him are exposed. Faris is a controversial businessman.
When CPM veteran V.S. Achuthanandan, while he was the CM, called Faris a persona non grata or a hated man. He says the scenario changed when Veena Vijayan regretted that she did not possess Rs 100 cr.
He laughed at the media persons for giving excess emphasis on the pandanus leaves used for packing the money when he wrote about the traffic of Rs 2.35 sans proper documents. Sakthidharn wonders if such a serious allegation has ever been levelled against any other political leader in the state.
He said that those media persons deserve at least a Pulitzer award for this sort of diversion of facts. He regrets they do not give any importance to such a matter of huge significance. He asks if the Malayalam media lacks alumni from Oxford and Cambridge. He asks if a slum in the state capital city is the ‘nerve centre of media activities’. He again laughs at the people who alleged that the names of the guilty were not revealed by him earlier.
He tells them about “Darkness At Noon” by Arthur Koestler which narrates the story of an autocrat, read Joseph Stalin, without mentioning his name. He says, similarly the readers of his posts exposed the names of the involved. In fact, Shakthidharan was asked by the Police to give a statement. But, he maintained that he did not have anything more to say than his FB post.
Now, political observers say that the Police was kept away from initiating any inquiry into the allegations Shakthidharan levelled through his FB post as he did not disclose any name. But, now, his FB post reveals the names. So, they wonder what prevents the Police from starting the inquiry.
Shakthidharan reminisces his experiences when he worked for the late CPM veteran and former Excise Minister T.K. Ramakrishana when the latter fought a by-election in Kottayam. He claims he was taking over the money from the well-wishers brought during those days.
He remembers that TK asked him if he had taken the bag; he could not understand its real meaning. But, after a few minutes, the bag was filled with bundles of currency and it became impossible to zip it. He and TK’s driver Appachan bought two large bath towels and covered the money with them.
After some time, the towels turned helpless too. Then they bought a double mundu (Kerala dhoti). Lakhs of rupees were pushed into the boot of the car. Appachan was worried until Shakthidharan carried the key after locking the room where the money was stored. Appachan taught him a lesson that eagles’ eyes were around the money.
Shakthidharan further says, Kerala’s ‘revolutionary culture’ is diminishing. The people believe that Pinarayi is the last word in CPM; that is Pinarayism. An equal power is necessary for the fall of communism. It happened in Bengal. Kerala may take some more time, Shakthidharan believes. However, P. Rajeev stated that the whole story originated from Shakthidharan’s imagination.
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