Chennai: Is this remotely possible? Well the majority of the people will say an emphatic ‘no’. A BJP office-bearer has lodged a complaint alleging that a man claiming to be an assistant of Union Minister Kishan Reddy duped him of Rs 50 lakh. The conman promised the BJP leader a party ticket to contest the April 6 Assembly polls. An FIR has been registered, police said Friday. It is the ideal example of how political leaders can also be conned.
The complainant, Bhuvanesh Kumar, Arani town president said that he gave Rs 50 lakh before the party decided on nominees. Narothaman, who claimed that he an aide of Kishan Reddy promised him a ticket to contest the polls. Kumar however, did not get party ticket to contest from any Assembly constituency. Kishen Reddy was the party election in-charge for Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
“We have filed an FIR (cheating) against four men, Narothaman, his father Chittibabu, Vijayaraman and Siva Balaji,” a police inspector said. He added that Narothaman and Chittibabu were said to be residents of Hyderabad. The two others against whom an FIR has been lodged are locals.
A senior police officer confirmed the registration of FIR but declined to elaborate on the veracity of the complaint. He also did not verify whether Narothaman had been Reddy’s assistant or if he is presently associated with the minister. “We sought legal opinion too before registering this FIR,” he stated.
When asked if Bhuvanesh Kumar was indeed a party functionary, a BJP state-level leader confirmed that he was a party office-bearer based in Arani. Asked if he was aware of the complaint, he answered in the affirmative.
The BJP leader was asked about the action the party contemplated against Kumar. “We were surprised and shocked when we got to know about this claim of giving money to get party ticket. Such a thing cannot happen in this party. Bhuvanesh was a recent entrant to the BJP. He was previously with another party. As an initial action, we have recommended that he be removed from his party post,” the BJP leader said.
