Kerala Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala faces allegations of receiving kickbacks in housing scheme

Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala, which has been strongly attacking the Left Front government in the state over kickbacks and irregularities involved in an UAE-agency funded housing scheme, suffered an embarrassment with allegations that a costly mobile phone purchased using the commission amount of the housing project was presented to leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala.

Chennithala, however, denied the allegation and said that he would initiate legal action for raising such baseless allegation against him.

Santosh Eapen, owner of Unitac, the firm carrying out the UAE-agency funded housing project form Kerala government's LIFE Mission project, said in an anticipatory bail petition at the Kerala High Court that UAE consulate former employee Swapna Suresh wanted him to buy five costly mobile phones and one of the phones was for gifting to Chennithala as part of UAE national day celebration in Kerala in December 2019.

Chennithala denied the allegation, maintaining that he did not accept any such gifts. He also added that gifts were distributed through luck-dip at the UAE national day celebration and he only presented the gift to winner. He said that he would move legally for raising such baseless allegation.

Close on the heels of the allegations surfacing, CPM leaders and activists launched a campaign against Chennithala in this regard. A bill of six mobile phones with costs ranging from Rs 49,000 to Rs 1,13,900 purchased in the name of Unitac was also being widely circulated.

The fresh developments are a sequel to the CBI registering a case into the alleged FCRA violation in the housing scheme with Rs 20 crore funding of UAE-based Emirates Red Crescent, and the Kerala government moving High Court urging that the CBI's FIR should be quashed as there were no FCRA violation. The CBI registered the case on the basis of a complaint given by Congress MLA Anil Akkara, and even Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan may come under the probe as he is LIFE Mission's chairman and the UAE agency's funding offer came after a visit of delegations led by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking support for post-flood rebuilding of Kerala.

The housing project at Thrissur district is for providing houses to 140-odd families who lost houses in the 2018 floods.