Thiruvananthapuram, March 24 With days left for the crucial assembly elections, a political row has erupted in Kerala over BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar's affidavit, with the Congress alleging that he had concealed details of a high-value property in Bengaluru and lodging a complaint with the Election Commission.
Rejecting the allegations, Chandrasekhar asserted that the allegations regarding concealment of his house details were baseless and challenged the Congress to approach the court if it had "the spine" to prove its claims.
In the April 9 polls, Chandrasekhar is contesting from the high-profile Nemom constituency against CPI(M) leader and general education minister V Sivankutty and former Congress MLA K S Sabarinathan.
While talking to reporters here, Sabarinathan said the allegations against Chandrasekhar's affidavit were serious.
"As per the allegations, he has not disclosed his property worth Rs 200 crore in the affidavit. We have studied about it, and we will raise this during the scrutiny," he told reporters here.
He said the Congress has already lodged a complaint and expected that the Election Commission would take appropriate action.
However, CPI(M) candidate Sivankutty did not show much keenness to reiterate the Congress charge against Chandrasekhar.
"There are rumours that he has not disclosed even 25 per cent of his actual assets in the affidavit. But when we raise the issue before the returning officer, we should have supporting documents. The Congress may have that," he said.
He also said the Left party does not want his nomination to be rejected over a technicality but wants the contest to be held.
Chandrasekhar, however, hit back and accused the Congress of resorting to falsehoods to fight elections. He also launched a sharp attack on the Congress leadership, referring to past controversies and criticizing senior leaders.
The BJP leader further alleged that state minister Sivankutty had been repeatedly making personal attacks against him.
"This is not a new allegation. During the time of every election, they come up with such allegations," he said, adding that people don't want controversies but want development.
The Kerala Assembly, for which elections are to be held on April 9, has 140 seats.