Venugopal dismisses bribery allegations against him, calls them BJP-CPI(M) sponsored

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal, MP, on Sunday rubbished the bribery allegation against him, terming it a “BJP-CPI(M)-sponsored” move. Addressing the media here, he said the case was fabricated and he had taken required legal steps against it.

Mr. Venugopal was responding to questions over a case registered against him and Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh on charges of allegedly accepting a bribe in exchange for a seat in the Haryana Assembly elections.

“The complaint was first filed before the DGP under the Kerala Chief Minister. Why didn’t they probe it then? I have also filed a complaint. Let there be an investigation,” Mr. Venugopal said.

Responding to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s allegation that the Congress and the BJP have entered into a deal in the Assembly polls, Mr. Venugopal said it was the Chief Minister who had reached an understanding with the BJP with the Twenty20 party as an intermediary.

On the allegations of an electoral understanding triggered by the Social Democratic Party of India’s (SDPI) decision to withdraw its candidate from the Manjeswaram Assembly constituency, the AICC leader said the Congress and the UDF have not entered into any deal with communal parties, including the SDPI.

“We are going into the polls with clear-cut guarantees to the people. The Chief Minister is upset as he is sure that we are going to win,” Mr. Venugopal said.