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Saritha S Nair, the prime accused in the 2013 solar scandal which roiled the previous Congress-led government in Kerala, announced Thursday that she would contest against the party’s candidate in the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency.
Nair, who visited the district collectorate in Kochi to pick up nomination papers for her candidacy, told indianexpress.com over the phone, “I’m not contesting to become an MP or sit in the Lok Sabha. I’m fighting the elections to mock and shame those who have criminal charges levelled against them. I have always been labelled as a cheater. But how are these leaders, who have committed crimes against women, which are far serious than financial crimes, allowed to contest elections?”
Nair has levelled allegations of sexual harassment against several Congress leaders including Hibi Eden, who has been fielded by the party in the Ernakulam constituency. Eden is currently an MLA from Ernakulam. Her candidacy as an Independent may further hamper the poll prospects of the Congress candidate, who faces a mounting challenge from the CPI(M)’s P Rajeev, a former Rajya Sabha MP known for his popularity in the district. BJP’s K J Alphons, the minister of state for tourism, is also in the fray. Read more Election news
On Thursday, Nair told reporters that Congress president Rahul Gandhi did not heed to repeated letters from her asking him to drop candidates who have a criminal past in the party. She underlined that her candidacy was not to get elected but to send a message to the people about voting for a candidate who has criminal FIRs registered against him.
Nair, who floated a company to sell solar panels, is accused of cheating the public and using contacts in the chief minister’s office and names of other influential Congress leaders to buy favours. She faces 40-odd cases of cheating in the scam. In 2017, a judicial commission which probed the scam, submitted a report attesting that top Congress leaders in the state purchased contracts and gave out subsidies to Nair’s firm in return for bribes and sexual favours. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy has also been named in the report.
In the 2016 Assembly elections, the CPI(M), then in the opposition, had made the scandal the focal point of their campaign against the Congress-led UDF. The scam and its expansive nature of corruption charges, many believe, propelled the Left parties to power winning 91 seats out of the state’s 140. The Congress-led UDF was reduced to 47 from its earlier tally of 72 seats.
