Mr Alphons Kannanthanam, the new entrant to the BJP, joined the palm oil slick debate on Sunday and said that then finance minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, had recommended the import in 1992.
Mr Kanannthanam, who was director of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation when the controversial import took place, added that he was shunted to Delhi for opposing the deal.
It was the first time that an IAS officer was sent on Central deputation without his prior consent.
Mr Kannanthanam had recorded his objections to the palm oil import on the file and that later saved him from being hauled up in the vigilance case. The former bureaucrat’s comments gain significance since the state vigilance department is now conducting a re-investigation into the opposition leader,
Mr Chandy’s role, in the import. Talking to mediapersons in Thrissur, Kannanthanam said he was ready to cooperate with the ongoing vigilance probe into palm oil import by the Karunakaran government in 1992.
He also said that the then chief secretary, Mr S. Padmakumar, a key accused in the case, had shown a special interest in the deal.
The ‘witch-hunting’ of Mr Karunakaran and Mr Chandy over the palm oil case has triggered an acerbic debate in the poll campaign.
Mr Chandy has said that the state government was deliberately trying to implicate him in the case with political motives though previous probes had exonerated him.