Bribe, murder dirt on Youth Cong leader makes Rahul act

Chandrasekhar, an IYC activist, was killed the night before he was to come to Delhi on June 29 to get his “reward” from Chaddha. A cable operator at Bapuji Nagar, Bangalore, Chandrasekhar was working as a returning officer of the party in Kodagu district.

Chandrasekhar’s wife Mangala Devi suspects her husband’s murder had something to do with “politics”, and was not the fallout of a property dispute as made out by the police. She has demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.

Recently Mangala met Rahul Gandhi with a complaint against Chaddha. IYC sources said Rahul had ordered action against Chadha and expelled him from the youth wing for six years.

Mangala told The Indian Express over phone from Bangalore that her husband had given Rs 6 lakh to Chaddha, after he promised to make him a “big political leader”.

IYC president Ashok Tanwar, however, denied that Chaddha had been expelled. “An inquiry is on,” he said, claiming he had no idea about the complaints against him.

Akhil Chaddha, who hails from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, told The Indian Express that he was being “framed” by his “enemies”. “It’s true that I’ve been given a note by the Youth Congress president. But I really don’t know what went wrong. Somebody is bent on ruining my political career. It has taken me eight long years of struggle to reach where I am. All that is ruined now,” said Chadha, who had a long stint in the NSUI before he joined the IYC.

Chadha doesn’t deny meeting Chandrasekhar. “I remember him as a hard-working party worker. But I didn’t have any financial dealings with him as is being alleged. I am being framed,” he said. The Karnataka police has already nabbed the killers of Chandrasekhar, who had been killed over a property dispute, Chadha added. “I am innocent.”

According to Mangala Devi, who is now staying with her brother Loknath, the money was transacted mostly through one of Chaddha’s friends’ account. “Chaddha used to make demands of cash, flight tickets and even mobile phones. When Chandrasekhar didn’t have enough money to meet Chaddha’s demands, he used to pawn my jewellery,” she said. “Whenever I protested against the huge amounts to Chaddha, he (Chandrasekhar) would tell me that Chaddha saab had assured him the post of general secretary.”

Mangala claims to have handed over all details of the financial transactions between Chaddha and her late husband to Karnataka Youth Congress chief Krishna Byre Gowda.

Loknath, Mangala Devi’s bother, said Chandrasekhar was a victim of “bad politics”. “He believed he could rise to power only though these kind of deals,” said Loknath, adding that the family was pinning all their hope on Rahul Gandhi. “Ours is a traditional Congress family. We hope that Rahulji will give justice to us.”