‘Gyanesh Kumar has no right to continue at the helm of EC’; Malayinkeezhu Venugopal opens up on KSTP corruption

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress leader Malayinkeezhu Venugopal said Gyanesh Kumar is not entitled to continue in the post of the chief election commissioner and demanded that he be immediately removed from the post and an investigation be conducted. He pointed that an inquiry into the corruption in the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) was initiated in 2007 but did not progress further. The suicide of the Malaysian national who worked as an engineer with Patibel Company was linked to corruption involving several people, including Gyanesh Kumar, who was the PWD Secretary at the time, said Venugopal while talking to a media.

Venugopal said that it was while inquiring into Gyanesh Kumar's background in the context of the election manipulation protests that he came to know about the KSTP corruption case. He also said he would contact the family of Lee See Been, the Malaysian national who committed suicide.

‘I contacted the office of Kerala’s Home Minister by phone yesterday. I requested a reinvestigation into the matter. When Gyanesh Kumar was Kerala’s PWD Secretary, there were several lapses in the projects he led. I have submitted a complaint, along with the information available to me from the initial investigation, requesting that an honest and urgent investigation be ordered into the matter,’ he said.

Venugopal further claimed that Gyanesh Kumar’s name is clearly mentioned in the Malaysian national’s suicide note. He said that a person facing such serious allegations should not continue even for a day at the helm of the Election Commission of a democratic country like India.

Based on Venugopal’s complaint, the home department has ordered a fresh vigilance probe against Gyanesh Kumar.