Palakkad (Kerala), March 28 Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday dismissed as "baseless" the allegation by senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala of a Rs 700 crore scam in the procurement of software for primary cooperative societies.
Vijayan, at a press conference here, also again denied the allegations made by the Congress-led UDF regarding a deal between the BJP and the CPI(M) in Kerala in the run-up to the April 9 Assembly polls.
He said that the UDF and opposition leader V D Satheesan believe they can say anything or spread lies, and claimed that the people will not be swayed by such tactics.
Vijayan also criticized Satheesan, alleging that a leader from the RSS had recently said that the opposition leader had sought the help of the right-wing organization several times to win elections.
"We are not that desperate. We have never had any links with or supported any form of communalism, and that is going to be our stand in the future as well," Vijayan said.
Regarding Chennithala's allegation of a Rs 700 crore scam in procuring software for the 4,415 primary cooperative societies in Kerala, Vijayan said that the process was carried out in a transparent manner and had received the approval of the Kerala High Court.
"The allegation is baseless, and the intention is simply to make an accusation," he contended.
Vijayan said that in 2021, a tender was floated and thereafter, a Letter of Intent for doing the work at Rs 206 crore was given to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
"But the company unilaterally withdrew from it in 2024, and therefore, it was decided in 2025 to float a new tender," he said.
Subsequently, a winning bid was received, and the award of the contract to the winner was approved by the Kerala High Court, the CM contended.
Chennithala, on Friday, had alleged that the contract given to TCS was cancelled under "suspicious circumstances" and later the new tender was awarded to a Kannur-based company -- Dinesh Beedi Cooperative Society -- which had no experience in the field.
He had also claimed that providing software to over 4,400 societies would now cost around Rs 915 crore, compared to Rs 206 crore earlier quoted by TCS, resulting in a loss of around Rs 700 crore to the exchequer.