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BJP to study CPI-M's affluence in Kerala

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Even as the Communist Party of India-Marxist is busy surveying the strength of the Sangh Parivar in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a secret probe into the wealth amassed by the ruling party.

Highly placed BJP sources told rediff.com that specially trained party workers have been dispatched to all the districts to make a full estimate of the wealth controlled by the CPI-M. The BJP is planning to prepare an inventory of movable and immovable properties held by the party from the state to the local committee level, besides collecting details about the funds in the possession of the party now. The team would make a special account of the property the party has acquired after it came to power in May 1996.

BJP leaders believe that the huge investment the CPI-M has made in the recent past might not have come from known sources of income. While the CPI-M claims the bulk of the funds have come from public collections, the BJP believes it is not possible for a party to collect millions of rupees from the public at a time of economic recession.

The major investments by the CPI-M in the past few years have been in the construction sector. The party has built permanent buildings for several district and local committees, besides taking up the construction of a most modern auditorium and a flat for party leaders at Thiruvananthapuram. While the auditorium, estimated to cost about Rs 20 million, has already been completed, the work on the flat is on.

BJP sources say the flats being constructed in the heart of the city might cost more than Rs 30 million. The flats, which are meant for state committee members, would have all the modern luxuries.

The construction activity was taken up without much publicity, with the site blocked from view. Similarly, people got to know about the construction of the auditorium only when the party organised a function to inaugurate it. The public again has no idea about the office buildings being constructed in various districts.

The CPI-M has also been maintaining secrecy about the funds it has mobilised for various other activities. For example, the party did not reveal the funds it mobilised through "bucket collection" for the Kottayam edition of the party organ Deshabhimani. However, there has been an exception in the case of collections made for the EMS memorial. The fact that the party mobilised nearly Rs 40 million in just a week's time was formally announced by the party secretary himself.

The provocation for the BJP probe has been the CPI-M's move to launch a TV channel, with reports saying the contemplated expenditure could go up to Rs 1 billion.

BJP general secretary P P Mukundan accuses the CPI-M of amassing large amounts through illegal channels, by misusing power.

There have been no proper accounts for about Rs 10 billion spent by the local bodies last year. The Kerala high court has already ordered an immediate auditing of accounts of the local bodies to find out whether there was any corruption involved in the utilisation of funds.

The other parties are also apprehensive about the wealth controlled by the CPI-M. Leader of opposition in the Kerala assembly A K Antony too felt there was something fishy in the public collections of funds by the CPI-M and had called for an inquiry.

Antony said it was strange the CPI-M kitty used to become full whenever the party was in power. Senior Congress leader K Karunakaran also said it was difficult to believe the CPI-M could mobilise millions of rupees from the public when the people at large were facing hardships.

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