Left Democratic Front MLA, and a former minister, K T Jaleel denied allegations that he intervened in Calicut university proffering a Doctor of Literature to Sharjah ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammed Al Qasimi in 2017.
While also called allegations “baseless” that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought personal favours from the Sharjah ruler, the former minister said it was not desirable to drag the Sharjah ruler into the ongoing row.
Jaleel, who was a former higher education minister in the previous Vijayan ministry, also denied the allegation by Swapna Suresh that he (Jaleel) intervened in awarding the honorary D.Litt from Calicut university to the royal in 2017. He said that the proposal to confer the D.Litt came before he took over as the higher education minister.
Former speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, too, denied all allegations raised by former UAE consulate employee Suresh against them in an affidavit filed in a court. The CM is yet to comment on the fresh allegations, even as the Opposition parties continue their protests against him.
Meanwhile, the Congress leadership in Kerala alleged that the Indigo airlines’ report on the protest against the Chief Minister by Youth Congress workers inside an aircraft was biased. The Kerala Congress leader asserted that the report failed to mention that CPM senior leader E P Jayarajan pushed the Youth Congress workers.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan alleged political influence was behind the “biased” report.