'M V Govindan's son leaked letter'; CPM under fire over dubious financial transactions, letter causes uproar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A complaint letter, initially filed by Kannur native Mohammed Shershad to the politburo in 2021, continues to haunt CPM in Kerala. In the letter. Shershad is demanding an investigation into the financial dealings of London-based businessman Rajesh Krishna, a native of Pathanamthitta and former district office bearer of SFI, with state ministers.

The accused and the complainant are both party members. The opposition intensified its attacks on the government and the CPM over the issue.

Rajesh Krishna, who arrived at the CPM party congress in Madurai as a delegate, was not allowed to participate. Many news channels reported the matter. Rajesh filed defamation against media channels that reported on the issue. The big embarrassment struck CPM when a letter, included as evidence in the defamation case, surfaced.

The Delhi High Court included the letter in the notice sent to the media. Shershad filed a complaint with CPM General Secretary M.A. Baby the other day regarding the leak of the letter. Muhammed Shershad, who learned that Rajesh Krishna would be coming to Madurai as a representative, brought the matter to the attention of PB member Ashok Dhawale through leaders in Tamil Nadu. Rajesh was thus denied from participating in the event.

As per allegations, Rajesh embezzled money from government projects in collaboration with some foreign shell firms and transferred this money to the accounts of leaders and ministers through a company registered in Chennai.

Shershad's allegations:

# The letter given to the Politburo was leaked by State Secretary M.V. Govindan's son, Shyamjith.

#Rajesh Krishna embezzled money by creating a shell company called 'Kingdom' for the Kollam coastal cleanup project.

#Only one-third of the amount received for the project was used for actual work. The rest was diverted

#In 2021, a complaint was filed against Rajesh Krishna by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Based on that, he was removed.

# Shershad questioned MV Govindan on the latter’s decision to stay at Rajesh Krishna’s residence in London. Govindan ignored Shershad.

# Shyamjit and Rajesh Krishna have been friends for years. Even before M.V. Govindan became CPM state secretary, they had financial transactions.

# Chief Minister's Political Secretary P. Sasi intervened on Rajesh Krishna's behalf. The complaint given to the Chief Minister was rejected.

# Evidence obtained through Malayalees in the UK against Rajesh Krishna is in possession. The transactions worth crores in Rajesh Krishna's bank account need to be examined.

Rajesh Krishna, a native of Prakkanam in Pathanamthitta district, was a member of the S.F.I. District Committee. He is a close relative of a senior C.P.M. leader in the district. After landing in London for higher studies, Rajesh got into business in the UK and soon made the place home. Rajesh had attended the World Kerala Congress organised during the previous government's tenure. Rajesh had come to Madurai to participate in the party congress as the representative of the organisation operating in London in association with the CPM.