After the Chief Minister, first to be in the eye of the storm, it is the turn of Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to feel the solar heat. The HM has for company two of his ministerial colleagues as well: Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar besides KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala. Completing the list are two Union Ministers from Kerala and a few UDF MLAs. All of them have been found to have had telephonic talk with one of the main scam accused, Saritha Nair, many times!

The sensational disclosures were made by a prominent Malayalam TV channel a few days back. The channel released the names of politicians whom Saritha called up, the ‘prize catch’ being none other than State Home Minister whose police is investigating the solar panel controversy! All the political leaders, with the exception of Chennithala, had made calls to the accused from their mobile phones, too, according to the TV channel.

The disclosures have, left the politicians red in the face. Their weak and unconvincing explanations have further strengthened public perception of wrong-doing at the highest level and links with the scam accused.

The shocking ‘leakage’ of sensitive documents to the TV channels, at a time when an investigation is right on, has severely dented the credibility of the Kerala police. The sordid episode amply vindicates the Opposition’s stand that a police probe will be an eye-wash and a judicial inquiry alone will unearth the truth.

Expectedly, the Home Minister has come in for trenchant criticism from not only the opposition Left Democratic Front but also from Congress MLAs cutting across group loyalties. KPCC president Chennithala has complained to the Chief Minister about the leak of the phone call details and demanded action against the guilty police officers.

Ringing up Saritha Nair was not the sole ‘crime’ of the Home Minister. The TV channel also released photographs of the HM posing with the second accused in the scam, Shalu Menon, a serial actress who has since been arrested. The occasion was Shalu Menon’s house warming. The ministerial explanation was that he was there only for a few minutes! As if all this was not enough, another accused, a senior government official who had secured bail, is missing from the hospital where he had got admitted for treatment, giving the police the slip! A great escape with the willing help of the police, screams the opposition.

Understandably, the Home Minister’s position has become utterly untenable in the wake of the shocking disclosures. Speculation is already rife about the imminence of his resignation. Lending strength to the rumours is the impending visit of the representatives of the Congress high command next week.

True, for form’s sake, the CM and the KPCC chief have decided to brazen it out. We shall face the crisis unitedly, forgetting our group rivalries, proclaimed the duo. But the million dollar question is: will the constrained camaraderie crafted by the CM and the party chief in the face of adversity prove enduring? Past record is anything but encouraging. (IPA Service)