Sex scandal revival jolts Cong, UDF
Even a diehard optimist will not believe that the heat generated by the revival of the ice cream parlour sex racket case will upset the much-fancied chances of the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front in the Assembly elections due in less than three months.
But then, the front has been shaken badly and a pall of gloom has descended on it after the case received a fresh lease of life last week, coming like a bolt from the blue.
The 15-year-old case involves an ice cream parlour in Kozhikode which served as front for flesh trade involving young girls and influential men. Indian Union Muslim League general secretary and former minister P K Kunhalikutty was cleared of his links with the scandal by the highest court of the land. Observers point out that even the pieces of evidence now let out in the open by his one-time close aide K A Rauf were examined by the courts. It’s the overall ‘visual effect’ given by the TV channels in the form of ‘expose’ that has created a sensation and lent credence to the belief that investigations have been sabotaged and favourable verdicts perhaps even bought over.
Rauf had alleged that Kunhalikutty had influenced witnesses to change their statements and suggested that even court verdicts were suspect. Already, the original affidavits of the two girls naming Kunhalikutty as the person with whom they had sex and the changed affidavits retracting his name are out in the open.
IUML in a quandary
However, for Kunhalikutty it has been an unexpected reversal of fortunes as he had quietly made his way back to the helm of the party. At the height of the ice cream case litigation the IUML was forced to remove him from the post of general secretary. Now, at a time when there is a tug-of-war between the IUML and Kerala Congress (M) over the number 2 spot in UDF, Kunhalikutty’s exit would prove disastrous for the outfit.
Kunhalikutty is also facing resistance from a group led by M K Muneer in his party who incidentally also chairs the TV channel which unearthed some of the murky backroom affairs in the scandal.
The new developments have come at the most inopportune moment for the UDF whose chief ministerial hopeful Oommen Chandy has been taking out the Kerala Mochana Yatra from Kasargod to Tiruvananthapuram. In fact, it was just when the yatra was about to enter the state capital that the political bomb was dropped.
The LDF has already seized the occasion and blasted the UDF ministries under Antony and Oommen Chandy for sabotaging the rule of law to bail out Kunhalikutty. Even though the ruling LDF is also taking some flak as a top CPM leader was said to have helped out Kunhalikutty to wriggle out of the case, it is the UDF which is in a quandary.
It was the change of stance of the key witness Rejina that changed the direction of the case. Though revision petitions were filed against the trial court verdict it ultimately did not yield any result. The efforts of chief minister V S Achuthanandan to get the case reinvestigated by moving a petition in the high court through the CPM’s women’s outfit had also not borne fruits.
In that respect, the claims of Kunhalikutty and the opposition UDF that there was nothing new in the present ‘revelations’ and that the entire documents now out in the open had been dealt with by the courts holds good. However, what the UDF will be wary of is the moral part of the story which will be decided in the people’s court when the elections are be held.
The nature of Rauf’s revelations also points to the widely circulated belief some years ago that the case had been sabotaged by the establishment bowing to political pressure. Judging by past experience, the front knows that when it comes to teaching lessons on political and civilian morality, the electorate can be ruthless.
