Kerala BJP chief threatens legal action against news of son landing post through backdoor

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 2 Hours after a leading TV channel came out with an exclusive news alleging that Kerala BJP President K. Surendran's son managed to get a posting at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) here through the backdoor, the BJP leader trashed the news and threatened to take legal action in the matter.

Speaking to the media, Surendran said that no one will have any doubt over the timing of the news as it came when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the state, which was the only reason for circulating the baseless news.

"I have done no wrong, nor have I done anything for my son's appointment. The fact is it was only after he got the appointment letter that people came to know that he is my son. I will take legal steps against this news, which has no substance. The media had earlier even alleged that he was involved in handling unaccounted cash," Surendran said.

Incidentally, the charges against Surendran's son has come at a time when the controversy over the appointment of Priya Varghese, the wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's secretary K.K. Ragesh, at Kannur University is yet to die down.

RGCB is an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

Meanwhile, the Congress and the CPI-M are up in arms over the nepotism charges against Surendran, demanding a probe into the appointment of his son K.S. Harikrishnan as technical officer at RGCB.

Harikrishnan has done B.Tech in mechanical engineering.

RGCB officials said that the appointment was made a few months back following the mandatory procedures and protocols and Harikrishnan is presently undergoing training, adding that the family history of the candidate is not looked into while making an appointment.

However, allegations are now being levelled against the entire process of selecting one person out of 48 who took the test on a fast-track basis as the three-phased testing process took place in a flash and in June this year after which Harikrishnan was appointed.

CPI-M's Kannur district secretary M.V. Jayarajan said that it is a matter of concern as to how BJP activists are able to twist the rules in various central institutions.

Youth Congress President and three-time legislator Shafi Parambil said: "When the Left sympathisers, especially the wives and kin of top CPI-M leaders, are given jobs through the backdoor in universities and state-run organisations, the BJP is matching up by filling central institutions with their own people."