Isaac raises charges against Oommen Chandy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The discussion on the Kerala Fiscal Responsibility (Amendment) Bill, 2011, in the Assembly on Thursday witnessed another allegation against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, once again by T M Thomas Isaac.While moving the 4(a) amendment to the Bill, Isaac alleged that Kochi Metro management had opened an account at the Axis Bank branch in Kollam where Sachu, one of the relatives of the Chief Minister, is working as assistant manager. He went on to level another charge that the one of relatives of Oommen Chandy, Kunjuillampalli, was appointed as chairman of the Co-operative Service Examination Board. The Chief  Minister, however, denied the allegations, terming them as baseless. He said that the account was opened at the Kochi Main Branch of the Axis Bank and Rs 2 crore was deposited in the current account. The Kochi Metro had also opened account in the HDFC Bank, he said. However, he admitted that Sachu was the grandson of his father’s sister.Chandy said that the appointment of Kunjuillampalli was a political one.  He said that Kunjuillampally had been the chairman of the Board earlier also and it was the LDF Government which replaced him with T V Balan, a KSTA leader. It was for expediting Balan’s appointment that the LDF had changed the eligibility required for the chairman’s post. Now the UDF  opted for the earlier norms, Chandy said. He said that Kunjuillampalli was a distant relative of him. He had been the state secretary of the INTUC and KSU before marrying one of his relatives, Chandy said. He said that the UDF Government would not hunt the Opposition party leaders for political reasons.