BJP trying to cash in on cooperative bank scams in Kerala

The BJP in Kerala is trying to cash in on cooperative bank scams in the state, which have caused embarrassment for both the CPM and the Congress.

BJP leaders are organizing demonstrations, accusing both the CPM and the Congress of misappropriating the funds of ordinary depositors and even providing assistance to the victims.

Suresh Gopi, the likely BJP candidate for Thrissur in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, a former Rajya Sabha MP and actor-turned-politician, led a major demonstration in Thrissur on Monday to protest against the scam at the CPM-led Karuvannur cooperative bank in the district.

On Wednesday, Gopi also visited the home of a depositor who recently passed away, allegedly due to a lack of proper treatment because the scam-hit cooperative bank did not return his deposit of Rs. 14 lakhs. Gopi pledged to settle the family's debts and provide medicines to the victim's elderly mother.

In a damage control move, the ruling CPM assured that all deposits would be gradually returned with the support of other cooperative banks. The party also launched a confidence-building campaign among the depositors of cooperative banks.

BJP organised a demonstration in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday  where a CPI governed cooperative bank, Kandala Cooperative bank, is facing allegations of irregularities.

The Congress is also facing embarrassment over alleged scams at cooperative banks involving party leaders. While Congress leaders are implicated in a scam at the Pulpally cooperative bank in Wayanad, former Congress minister V S Sivakumar is facing protests from depositors of the Thiruvananthapuram District Unemployed Social Welfare Cooperative Society, which Sivakumar allegedly has links to.

BJP state president K Surendran said in a statement on Wednesday that the Congress-led United Democratic Front was equally responsible for the irregularities in the cooperative banking sector and hence they were not effectively taking up the grievances of depositors of the left-party ruled cooperative bank.