Thiruvananthapuram: The vigilance department should register a case and investigate the new allegations made by Biju Ramesh in connection with the bar bribery, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan demanded after a meeting of the party’s state secretariat.

Biju Ramesh has levelled serious allegations against Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and former ministers K Babu and VS Sivakumar. “If he stands firm on what he has said, then the Vigilance should file a case,” Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said.

Biju Ramesh's allegation that Jose K Mani offered Rs 10 crore to withdraw the bribery allegation against KM Mani can also be investigated. However, there is only the allegation of the promise having been made but no amount was paid or accepted.

Kodiyeri termed as imaginary Biju Ramesh’s claim that the former would have brought Mani to the LDF. The CPM had never wanted to make Mani the chief minister, he said.

The agitation against Mani is not a subject that needs to be discussed now. The argument that one should not form an alliance with a party that raised an allegation is not acceptable in politics; it is also not practical.

Kodiyeri denied that the Muslim League would be included in the Left Front. The League is not a party that believes in secularism. It is trying for communal polarisation, Kodiyeri said. The League is led by the politics of Jamaat-e-Islami. The new UDF axis is Ramesh-Hassan-Kunhalikutty-Jamaat-e-Ameer, he said.