Kottayam: The BJP, on Thursday, described the Kerala solar scam as the "biggest sex-cum-bribe" scandal that has "shocked" the nation, and demanded immediate arrest of all the accused.
"We demand arrest of all the accused in the solar scam. We want those accused of corruption, erasing evidence and trying to derail investigation and those facing charges of sexual exploitation be arrested without any delay," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.
His reaction comes a day after the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala ordered vigilance and SIT probes against former chief minister Oommen Chandy, some of his former cabinet colleagues and two former MLAs in connection with the multi-crore rupees scam.
While announcing the government decision on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said a criminal case would be registered and "SIT will probe allegations of rape levelled by (prime accused) Saritha (Nair) against some politicians in her letter on July 17, 2013".
The decision was taken on the basis of the findings of the Justice G Sivarajan Commission, which probed the scam and had last month submitted its report to the government.
Rao of the BJP described the scam as the "biggest sex-cum bribe" scandal that had completely shocked the political establishment of the country.
Alleging that the scam was not confined to the state, he said, "This is not a scam that has tainted only the UDF in Kerala, its tentacles go far beyond the state right up to Delhi."
"Congress leaders in New Delhi and in Kerala both stand guilty in court of public opinion," he said.
The BJP leader also demanded that the CPI(M)-led LDF government in the state ensure there was custodial interrogation of "the accused."
The Justice Sivarajan Commission was appointed by the previous Oommen Chandy government after allegations surfaced about duping of several people of crores of rupees by prime accused Saritha Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan by offering solar panel solutions.
Besides ordering a vigilance probe, the state government also decided to launch further probe into the scam by a special investigation team against Chandy, former power minister Aryadan Mohammed and former minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, after registering a case against them.
