Congress MP Adoor Prakash clarifies, says met Sonia Gandhi with Sabrimala accused as he was from his constituency

Thrissur (Kerala): UDF convener and Congress MP Adoor Prakash on Saturday issued a clarification regarding his association with Unnikrishnan Potti and a visit to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's residence, reacting to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's statement.

Adoor Prakash said the Chief Minister stated that he had accompanied Unnikrishnan Potti to Sonia Gandhi's residence. Clarifying the circumstances, the MP said Unnikrishnan Potti hails from his parliamentary constituency.

UDF convener and MP Adoor Prakash said, ''Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday revealed that I had gone with Unnikrishnan Potti to Sonia Gandhi's residence. Unnikrishnan Potti is from my parliament constituency... In 2019, I became a Member of Parliament. At that time, he approached me and said he was conducting an Annadanam in Sabarimala and that I had to come and inaugurate that function. I had gone there. After the Anadhanam, I'm not sure what happened. I came back from Sabarimala... When I was in Delhi, he (Unnikrishnan Pogotti) came there and informed me that he had an appointment with Sonia ji. He asked me to come with him as an MP... "


He maintained that there was nothing unusual or improper in the visit. He reiterated that his role was limited to accompanying a person from his constituency in his official capacity as an MP.

The clarification comes amid political exchanges following the Chief Minister's remarks, which had triggered reactions from opposition leaders in the state.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the Youth Congress staged a protest in the state capital, alleging a delay in the investigation into the Sabarimala gold theft case, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.

The Sabarimala gold controversy centres on allegations of irregularities in the gold plating at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a 1998 donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala.

On Monday, the Special Investigation Team probing the Sabarimala gold theft case made another arrest, taking former Travancore Devaswom Board member Vijayakumar into custody from Thiruvananthapuram.