Amid scrutiny on N Prasanth, Mercykutty Amma accuses him of orchestrating deep-sea fishing row

Kollam: Former Minister and CPM leader J. Mercykutty Amma has accused IAS officer N. Prasanth of orchestrating a political conspiracy that led to corruption allegations against her regarding a deep-sea fishing deal. This development comes as N. Prasanth is in the limelight following a report by Kerala’s Additional Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak.

In a Facebook post, Mercykutty Amma claimed the corruption charges against her over the "deep-sea fishing deal" during her tenure as Fisheries Minister were engineered by Prasanth. She alleged that he, who had served as private secretary to former Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, acted to give the United Democratic Front (UDF) an upper hand in coastal constituencies.

"Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the Fisheries Department had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) related to the project. However, the MoU was actually signed by Prasanth, who was then the Managing Director of Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation," she claimed.

"An enquiry was launched to investigate matters related to the deep-sea trawlers. The shocking conspiracy was revealed only at that point," she noted.

Mercykutty Amma’s claims on the deep-sea fishing deal

Mercykutty Amma stated that the Industries Department had organised an investor meeting in Kochi, during which Prasanth signed an MoU with EMCC for a Rs 5,000-crore development project. She claimed that this agreement, made by the MD (Prasanth) of Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation, was unrelated to the Fisheries Department or her ministry. She further alleged that local vested interests, along with Sangh Parivar elements, joined in this smear campaign to portray her as the person who cracked the deal.

Mercykutty Amma referred to Prasanth as an officer “synonymous with betrayal.” According to her, she was wrongly implicated in a matter that had no connection to the Fisheries Department, of which it was entirely unaware. She accused Prasanth of once again playing such a "villainous" role.