Palakkad: The Congress has alleged that BJP workers distributed cash to voters in Palakkad, releasing visuals it claims show the act. The footage, circulated by Congress workers, is said to capture money being handed out in the Kannadi area.
Visuals trigger row in Kannadi
According to the video released by the Congress, the visuals show BJP Palakkad candidate Sobha Surendran present at the scene. The incident is alleged to have taken place at Tharuvakurissi in Kannadi panchayat. The video has emerged on the eve of the Assembly elections polling day in Kerala.
Congress workers claim the footage shows BJP workers giving money to an elderly woman at her home. They allege that a woman who was in a car with Sobha Surendran stepped out and handed over the cash to the elderly resident.
Sequence of events outlined
The Congress said a person had died in a house adjacent to the elderly woman's residence. NDA candidate Sobha Surendran and party workers had reportedly visited the bereaved house. They then went to the neighbouring house, spoke briefly to those present, and allegedly handed money to the elderly woman.
Visuals released also purportedly show Sobha Surendran threatening those filming. She was seen engaging in a verbal dispute with them. Congress workers further claimed that when the elderly woman was asked, she opened her hand and showed the money she had received.
Former Palakkad municipal chairperson Prameela Sashidharan was also present with Sobha Surendran, according to the Congress.
Complaint to Election Commission planned
Local Congress workers recorded the visuals and alleged that BJP workers attempted to snatch their mobile phones. The party said it would approach the Election Commission with a complaint over what it termed attempts to influence voters.
The Congress has also alleged that, apart from the cash distribution, ₹50,000 was given to a temple. It further claimed a promise was made to provide ₹10 lakh for renovation if Sobha Surendran wins the election.
Sobha Surendran reaction
Meanwhile, Sobha Surendran maintained that it was part of an attempt to target her and that there was a ploy behind it. She dismissed the allegations as a targeted attempt to malign her. She said: "As a woman and a candidate, this has been a deliberate attempt to humiliate me and voters through certain media and political rivals." She maintained that reports of cash distribution by BJP workers in Kannadi are entirely baseless.
She explained that she had visited an autorickshaw stand in Pirayiri panchayat to meet a cancer patient and their family. Sobha described the sequence presented by Congress as a fabricated script, alleging that those unable to accept BJP's assured victory were behind the controversy.
Sobha added that she and the woman accompanying her were aggressively followed by a group of young men in a car, who made repeated obscene gestures at a woman of her mother's age, prompting her to stop the vehicle. She identified one follower as Vinesh Sargga, who faces multiple criminal cases, and said complaints had been filed with both the police and the Election Commission.
She also denied claims that any other woman was in her car, challenging the media to clarify the identity of the woman shown in the visuals. Sobha asserted that the elderly woman had not received any money and accused Congress and left-wing rivals of pressuring poor families to create a political row. She expressed confidence of winning with a large majority despite the controversy.