Priyanka slams midnight raids in Palakkad, CPI(M) and BJP demand probe

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday condemned a police search of female Congress leaders’ hotel rooms in assembly bypoll-bound Palakkad, calling it “wrong” even as the political row over midnight raids on suspicion of use of black money for polls intensified.

Hours before Gandhi condemned the police raids, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan demanded a probe after a CCTV footage emerged showing a Congress worker arriving at the hotel with a trolley bag in Palakkad. The Congress-led UDF accused the left party of releasing the footage to the media.

“CPI(M) will resist the flow of black money for the bypolls. There is evidence that black money was brought to Palakkad. Therefore, a probe in this regard is required,” Govindan told reporters.

Leader of opposition in the Kerala assembly, VD Satheesan, lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that CPI(M) had misused the police machinery, as the raid was a “pre-planned operation” to tarnish party image.

“It is a clear case of misuse of the police machinery by the CPI(M)-led government in the Palakkad by-election. It may be noted that even prior to the police scripted drama fashioned as a raid, CPI(M) and BJP activists assembled in front of the hotel and the CPI(M) run television channel reached there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Surendran alleged that the police assisted Congress leaders in moving black money from the hotel. “It’s clear that black money was brought to the hotel. However, the police acted to help Congress workers move the money before the raids,” he said.

On Tuesday, police conducted a midnight raid including in hotel rooms where prominent Congress women politicians, such as Bindu Krishna and Shanimol Usman, were staying.

“It was wrong for male policemen to enter women’s rooms in the middle of the night under the pretext of a hotel raid,” Priyanka told a new channel.

As the UDF candidate in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, Priyanka was responding to a query regarding the police raid on the hotel, which followed suspicions of black money being brought there.

The election commission had earlier postponed the Palakkad assembly bypoll from November 13 to November 20, citing the Kalpathi Ratholsavam festival.

The Palakkad bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA Shafi Parambil of the constituency was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara.