Cong collected 5.38 crore for Wayanad rehab: KPCC president

Kannur: Amid the controversy over Congress's proposed rehabilitation programme for landslide victims in Wayanad, KPCC president Sunny Joseph on Saturday said his party had collected Rs 5.38 crore for the house construction project. The amount includes Rs 1.05 crore contributed by Youth Congress.Addressing the media in Kannur, Joseph said Rs 6.18 crore has already been spent on purchasing 5.42 acre. An additional Rs 9.3 lakh was spent on developing the mobile app meant for collecting funds from the public, he said."Initially, 3.24 acre was purchased with Rs 3.68 crore during the tenure of former KPCC president K Sudhakaran. In the second phase, 2.18 acre was purchased at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The total expenditure was Rs 6.27 crore, exceeding the amount collected for the rehabilitation project. No fresh funds will be raised for construction of the proposed houses and the remaining work will be completed with AICC and KPCC funds," he said.Joseph denied allegations of misuse of the fund, saying all transactions were transparent and the money was deposited in a joint account in the name of KPCC president and opposition leader.CPM is spreading baseless allegations over the fund and attempting to create suspicion, he alleged.CPM workers had attempted to encroach upon the land Congress purchased, by erecting huts, he added. Joseph criticised the ruling party for organising protest marches to the offices of Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi and Kalpetta MLA T Siddique.