Surendran allegedly bribed and threatened BSP leader K Sundara to withdraw his candidature from the Manjeswaram Assembly constituency.
Published Jan 11, 2023 | 6:15 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 11, 2023 | 6:41 PM
Surendran (middle) sips tea with BJP national president JP Nadda in Kochi recently. (Supplied)
The crime branch of the Kerala Police on Wednesday, 11 January, filed a chargesheet in the infamous Manjeswaram election bribery case, naming the BJP’s state unit president K Surendran as the first accused.
The trial of Surendran and five others is expected to begin soon at the Kasaragod District Sessions Court.
As per the chargesheet, the crime branch invoked non-bailable charges on all six BJP leaders accused in the case.
It grilled Surendran several times before filing the chargesheet.
According to investigators, Surendran bribed and threatened BSP leader K Sundara to withdraw his candidature from the held Manjeswaram Assembly constituency.
Sundara was a namesake-spoiler candidate in the constituency bordering Karanataka, where the BSP has hardly any presence.
Manjeswaram is also a traditional stronghold of the BJP, where LDF cadres often divert their votes to the UDF candidate to prevent the election of a BJP candidate.
In the last Assembly election, Surendran contested from Manjeswaram and Ranni in the south, but failed to win either of the constituencies.
After the elections, Sundara created a political sensation by revealing to the media that he was bribed and threatened to withdraw his candidature by the BJP leader and his close confidants.
Sundara also revealed that he demanded ₹15 lakh and a wine parlour in the nearby Karnataka city Mangaluru from Surendran, but received hardly ₹2.5 lakh and a smartphone worth ₹15,000. The meagre amount made Sundara furious.
As he is a Dalit, the crime branch even slapped charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Surendran.
The other accused are district leaders of the BJP, who were allegedly involved in the failed deal with Sundara.
