Brijesh Kalappa is the Spokesperson of Indian National Congress (INC) since 2013 and an advocate in the Supreme Court. He also is the Legal Advisor to Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka and he was the former Additional Advocate General in Haryana. He has been defending the un-defendable since ages. His primary job was shielding Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party from the attacks originating from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies. This difficult job was made even worse by the recurring blunders of Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi.
No matter what the Congress Party stood for, no matter how it did, Brijesh Kalappa had done everything possible to keep the reputation of Congress Party intact. An honest worker for the Congress party, Brijesh Kalappa was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014. He was also denied tickets for the Rajya Sabha elections in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Congress party clearly doesn’t understand how to boost the morale of its hardworking leaders and workers.
Continuing the tradition of not giving ticket to Kalappa, the Congress Party denied him a ticket from the Madikeri seat in Karnataka in the upcoming assembly elections. The list of Congress Party candidates for 2018 Assembly elections were released just a few days back. The list did not have Kalappa’s name in it, but the most shocking revelation was still to come. The Madikeri seat was allotted to HS Chandramouli. After much uproar in the media, the seat was put on-hold.
HS Chandramouli was the lawyer for absconding businessman Mehul Choksi in 2016. Mehul Choksi is the co-accused along with Nirav Modi in the Punjab National Bank fraud case. HS Chandramouli had represented Mehul Choksi in the Karnataka High Court in 2016. It was a case related to cheating filed by S V Hariprasad a city businessman in Karnataka.
Brijesh Kalappa posted an emotional message on Facebook in the early hours of April 16th. The post clearly shows his frustration with the manner in which the party had sidelined him and rejected his candidature. He also raised questions about how the Congress Party let leaders like Jayprakash Hegde leave in the past. He also hinted at the double standards being adopted in the Congress Party by the leadership at the local and central level.
His Facebook post shows the hurt party’s decision had caused him. Kalappa’s outburst is validated and was echoed by the workers from the Karnataka Congress Party. BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya too hinted at a connection between Mehul Choksi and Rahul Gandhi owing to the privilege given to H S Chandramouli. H S Chandramouli joined the party at a much later date. He also had not held any senior post in the party. Kalappa, on the other hand, is the legal advisor to the incumbent government in Karnataka. Choosing H S Chandramouli over Brijesh Kalappa can in a certain way point towards a nexus between Rahul Gandhi and the fraudsters in the PNB case, as is being pointed out by BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya.
These matters should raise questions over the meritocracy, or lack thereof, being followed in the party internally. Are the hard workers recognized and rewarded in the Congress Party or are favorites and close ties chosen in the end? INC has put a hold on the nominations of the Madikeri seat following the leak of news about H S Chandramouli’s association with Mehul Choksi. What it finally does with the ticket will reveal the true colors of the Congress Party President and his party.