Kochi: Controversial political broker T G Nandakumar alleged that the CPM tried to make former Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) chairman, the late K M Mani, Chief Minister while the Solar Case scandal was causing turmoil within the UDF camp in 2013. 

According to Nandakumar, the LDF plan to topple the UDF government fell through, leading to a settlement.

"P C George (who was in the UDF camp at the time), colluded with E P Jayarajan to discuss the matter with Pinarayi Vijayan. Later, both George and Jayarajan met with Mani, who initially showed no interest in the proposal. Vijayan also participated in the mission via phone," alleged Nandakumar. 

Nandakumar asserted that he was the one who informed Mani about the attempts being made by certain individuals to appoint Jose K Mani as a Union minister by holding discussions with Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. Upon learning this, Nandakumar says that Mani started showing interest in the position of chief minister.

"However, the move was unsuccessful, similar to K. Muraleedharan’s attempt to prevent his father K. Karunakaran from becoming the Chief Minister. Nandakumar added that Mani’s delay in decision-making led to the CPM having no choice but to settle the solar scam issue with UDF."