Sabarimala gold case: M.B. Rajesh’s Kerala Assembly remark reveals bid to implicate Tantri, says K.C. Venugopal

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal has alleged that Minister M.B. Rajesh’s statement in the Assembly revealed the State Government’s intent to implicate the Tantri in the Sabarimala gold theft case, stemming from hostility over his stand on the Sabarimala temple women’s entry issue.

He was speaking to the media after a war of words erupted between the treasury and opposition benches in the Assembly during the Budget session earlier in the day over the Tantri’s arrest. Mr. Venugopal was in Kochi to visit the woman recuperating at a private hospital following surgery to remove a surgical instrument left inside her abdomen.

“We never said before the verdict that the arrest was wrong or that the Tantri should not be arrested. Only after the verdict did we ask whether it was to settle old scores. Was it to retaliate against the Tantri for his stand on women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple? Even the Tantri himself has raised that question,” Mr. Venugopal said. He pointed out that the same court, while considering bail applications of two former Devaswom Board presidents, had taken a different view.

He described the minister’s statement as “an attempt to prevent loss of face.” “When the Tantri was arrested, we had said it should not be to shield the minister. If an arrest is made, it must be backed by credible evidence. We never objected to arresting someone, per se. But here, it was the court itself that said in its bail order that there was ‘not even an iota of evidence,’” he observed.

“So why is the minister trying to prove otherwise? When the court says there is no evidence against the Tantri, why does the minister insist the court is wrong? What is the intention behind that? That is where we suspect a conspiracy. We believe it reflects hostility toward the Tantri. Otherwise, why would the minister criticise a court verdict?” Mr. Venugopal asked.