Another controversy appeared to dog Bharatiya Janata Party State (BJP) State president K. Surendran.
On Monday, a television news channel raised questions about his son K.S. Harikrishnan's appointment as a technical officer at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram.
It is an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. An RGCB spokesperson told reporters there was no foul play in Mr. Harikrishnan's appointment. The institute rigorously followed the statute, invited applications, and conducted tests and interviews before finalising selections.
Speaking to reporters in Alappuzha on Friday, Mr. Surendran dismissed the allegations as an unwarranted and politically motivated smear. He said the perpetrators of the fake news were guilty of libel. He would sue them for defamation.
Mr. Harikrishnan is a BTech in Mechanical Engineering. The allegation was that the RGCB had fast-tracked the appointment and possibly broke reservation rules to stack the deck in Mr. Harikrishnan's favour.
Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener E.P. Jayarajan said an independent inquiry would reveal the truth. He said BJP leaders often bent the rules in Central institutions to appoint their proteges.
Youth Congress president Shafi Parambil said the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] were equally guilty of nepotism and back-door appointments. He said the BJP had lost the moral right to campaign against nepotism in university appointments.
Mr. Surendran was at the forefront of the campaign demanding an inquiry against Kannur University Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran for appointing Priya Varghese, wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary K.K. Rajesh, as an associate professor in the Malayalam department.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had stayed the appointment after he found merit in the allegation that the Vice Chancellor had overlooked more eligible candidates to appoint Ms. Varghese. The High Court had refused to stay Mr. Khan's order.
Moreover, the State police had targeted Mr. Surendran in its investigation into the Kodakara hawala heist case.
Moreover, the police were investigating Mr. Surendran on the charge of threatening and bribing a fellow candidate who hails from the SC/ST community to withdraw from the Manjeswaram Assembly elections in 2021.
Meanwhile, speculation was widespread whether alleged feuding with the BJP's State unit had spawned the accusations.
