Cash-for-vote row: BJP suspends Bindu Vinayakumar after complaint against Sobha Surendran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Bindu Vinayakumar, who filed a complaint against Sobha Surendran in connection with the alleged cash-for-vote controversy in Palakkad, has been suspended from the primary membership of the BJP. The party stated that the action was taken due to repeated disciplinary violations. Bindu, a member of the Alappuzha North district committee, was suspended following a decision by BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, according to state general secretary Adv. S Suresh.

Earlier, Bindu had filed a complaint alleging that Sobha Surendran threatened her over a phone call. According to Bindu, Sobha accused her of delivering money in the cash-for-vote controversy and threatened to physically harm her. Bindu had also released an audio recording of the alleged threatening phone call. She claimed that the call was made via WhatsApp yesterday morning.

“She called me and said she would settle the issue. She used abusive language and threatened to break my jaw. Sobha made these allegations without evidence. This is an attempt to put the blame for the Palakkad issue on someone else,” Bindu said.

She also spoke about internal issues within the party in Alappuzha.

“There were problems created by Sobha’s group in Alappuzha. The state president had instructed changes in her faction. Complaints were raised that she was collecting money in Alappuzha. Sobha tried to include me in her group, but I refused. After that, I was sidelined from all party activities,” she said

Bindu added that she removed a social media post against Sobha on the instructions of the district leadership.