This was what the same leader had told the party probe committee: “About Rs 18 crore had been collected....(but) accounts of only two crore have been furnished. The balance amount they are keeping and using to help followers for acting against the party. These collections were carried out by P.P. Mukundan (RSS nominee and BJP organising secretary for Kerala and Tamil Nadu) and Prof Narayanan Nair (BJP state treasurer) — Prof Nair demanded Rs 20 lakh from party workers and Rs 25 lakh from others for getting sanction for petrol pumps. This can be seen in the minutes book....’’

However, this is what G.P.C. Nair, former state DGP and current head of the state BJP’s human rights cell and a member of the probe committee, told The Indian Express : “Every word in the report is true. We took depositions from 81 leaders, and faithfully recorded what they deposed. Yes, I agree the pump scam is a serious issue. But we did not probe that because the committee’s terms of reference given by our party was limited to looking at the reasons for the poll debacle’’.

When The Indian Express contacted the state BJP’s president pointing out what the party’s own probe committee member had said, he responded: “I have nothing to say.’’