‘Shone George is a colleague’; V Muraleedharan says he has not complained to BJP central leadership

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP MLA V Muraleedharan has responded to the controversy over BJP leader Shone George releasing the diary of CMRL Managing Director S. N. Sasidharan Kartha. Muraleedharan said Shone George is his colleague and that he has neither complained against him to the party's central leadership nor intends to do so.

“My asset details are in the public domain. I have collected money when I was the party president. No one can be blamed for collecting money as part of party activities. I have not acquired any property using money received from anyone,” Muraleedharan said.

He also said he had not sent his children abroad for studies. “Money is collected for the party with the signature of the state president,” he said. Muraleedharan also said the issue should not be mixed up with the Exalogic case.

Shone George had released details from the diary of CMRL Managing Director S. N. Sasidharan Kartha, reportedly with the aim of putting LDF and UDF leaders on the defensive. However, the issue turned into a setback for the BJP after the name of senior BJP leader V. Muraleedharan also appeared in the diary.

Muraleedharan had responded to the controversy the previous day. While denying that the name in the diary was his, he had asked, “Is there only one Muraleedharan in the BJP? There are other Muraleedharans too.”

When reporters asked whether Shone George had put him in a difficult position, Muraleedharan replied, “If Shone George has tried to put me in a difficult position, I am not someone who would fall into it.”

Muraleedharan also said that he was a person who had protested against CMRL and had not received any money from the company.