V Kunhikrishnan shares more evidence of fund misappropriation

Kozhikode: Expelled CPM leader V Kunhikrishnan, who is contesting in Payyannur seat as a UDF backed independent candidate, released supposed evidence to substantiate his charges of misappropriation of party funds collected for construction of the party area committee office in Payyannur. In a Facebook post, Kunhikrishnan said that in Nov 2017, MLA T I Madhusoodanan, who was also the chairman of the building construction committee, presented only a summary statement of total income and expenditure without giving a detailed account. Area committee members then made it clear that they would not accept this and demanded a detailed statement. He said that the leadership, however, delayed presenting the detailed accounts until 2021. Kunhikrishnan said that according to the accounts presented on fund collection, expenditure exceeded income, showing a difference of Rs 42,337. But upon closer scrutiny, it became evident that contributions made by party members had deliberately not been included in the income. He alleged that an amount of Rs 70.5 lakh collected in 2016 from cooperative employees, was not accounted for. In addition, interest that should have accrued from deposits was also excluded. "If these were included, there should have been a surplus of over Rs 70 lakh in the funds collected for the construction of the party office. Instead, this surplus was concealed, indicating misappropriation," he added. Kunhikrishnan added that based on these accounts, it was shown that Rs 35 lakh from the martyr fund of a slain party worker had been diverted to the building construction fund. The deliberate omission of income and the diversion of funds point to financial misappropriation, he alleged.