Allegations of fund misappropriation and mismanagement in cooperative societies have come back to haunt the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid a hectic local body election campaigning period in Kerala.
A report of the Cooperative department ordering the office-bearers of the BJP-controlled Peringammala Labour Contract Cooperative Society, including BJP State general secretary S. Suresh, to pay a total of ₹4.16 crore to make up for the society’s losses, surfaced in the public domain on Wednesday.
As per the department’s findings on the irregularities in the society, the office-bearers through acts violating the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 and the society’s own bylaws had caused a total loss of ₹4.16 crore. Each of the office-bearers has been ordered to pay various amounts along with 18% interest from the time of the alleged fund misappropriation in 2013, to make up for the society’s losses.
While society president and BJP-RSS leader G. Padmakumar has been ordered to pay ₹46.48 lakh, society vice president Mr. Suresh is required to pay ₹43.34 lakh. Seven of the office-bearers are required to pay an amount of over ₹46 lakh each. The office-bearers are understood to have availed of loans in violation of existing rules of cooperative societies.
Refutes charges
However, refuting the allegations, Mr. Suresh said in a Facebook post that even the investigation of the Cooperative department does not mention that he had availed of any loan or given recommendation for a loan from the society.
He said he had resigned from the position of member of the governing body of the society on July 26, 2016. The department report of 2023-24, the proceedings of which the High Court had stayed earlier this year, now surfaced in the public domain as part of a politically motivated campaign of Left-backed media organisations, he alleged.
For the BJP, which is making an all-out push to capture power in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the revelations could not have come at a worse time. In October, K. Anil Kumar, sitting councillor of the Thirumala ward, had committed suicide allegedly following a financial crisis in the BJP-controlled Valiyasala Farm Tour Society.
In a purported note, he had hinted at several BJP leaders failing to repay large sums of money they had drawn from the society, pushing the cooperative society into a crisis. Mr. Anil Kumar’s death and the allegations in the letter had led to internal friction in the BJP.
Mired in corruption: Sivankutty
Speaking to presspersons on Wednesday, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty said the State leadership of the BJP appeared to be “mired in corruption.”
“The recent deaths of disenchanted workers are an even bigger problem,” he said.
Anand K. Thampi, a BJP worker, was found dead in a shed adjacent to his house at Thrikkannapuram on November 15. A WhatsApp message to friends purportedly written by Anand before his death said he had decided to contest in the upcoming local body polls as an Independent candidate as the BJP had selected another person. He was, however, denied the ticket as three local leaders of the BJP and the RSS who allegedly had ties with the sand mafia wanted someone with similar links as their candidate, it was claimed.
Published – November 19, 2025 03:30 pm IST
