Pinarayi prevented VS’ second term in 2011, claims former aide K Suresh Kumar’s book

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: K Suresh Kumar's book ‘VS noppam Ente Dinangal’ (My days with VS) contains serious revelations against Pinarayi Vijayan. The book by K Suresh Kumar, former IAS officer and private secretary to former chief minister V S Achuthanandan, says that Pinarayi Vijayan, who was then the CPM state secretary, tried to prevent the VS government from securing a second term in the 2011 assembly elections. His book said the CPM fielded candidates with the intention of defeating them in 13 constituencies. He claimed that VS himself directly revealed these things to him. Suresh was a member of the task force appointed by VS to clear illegal encroachments in Munnar.

VS set out to reclaim Munnar after news came to light that a huge amount of money was being collected under the leadership of the CPI. Although Binoy Viswam and K P Rajendran, who were in the then cabinet, were assigned to monitor the encroachments, they did not carry out the mission properly. When the earth movers arrived to demolish the slab in front of the Munnar Tourist Home hotel, they were not informed that it was CPI’s office. Suresh revealed in the book that after one stage of the mission, the CPM and the CPI cornered VS.

The book also alleged that Rathan U Kelkar, the then sub-collector and now secretary to Chief Minister V D Satheesan, tried to sabotage the Munnar encroachment eviction process in 2007. The book revealed that the task forces under Kelkar and Mohandas served notices to roadside vendors and the poor living in small huts and spread fear among the locals, which led to the sabotage of the eviction process.

The 25 online lottery terminals that were shut down in Ernakulam when Suresh was the lottery director belonged to the father-in-law of Arun Kumar, son of VS. Suresh said that even after this came to his attention, VS did not back down in the fight against the lottery, but rather provided all support. Suresh Kumar said VS had told him that the then finance minister Thomas Isaac had deliberately failed to demand a CBI investigation into the sale tax evasion of crores by lottery operators.