NM Vijayan's Family Begins Protest at Gandhi Square as Priyanka Gandhi Campaigns for Accused I C Balakrishnan

Bathery: The family of NM Vijayan, the Wayanad DCC treasurer who died by suicide along with his son, launched a fast-unto-justice protest at Gandhi Square in Bathery today, as Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi arrived in the town to campaign for UDF candidate IC Balakrishnan in the Sultan Bathery constituency. Vijayan's son Vijesh, daughter-in-law Padmaja, and their children staged the protest holding a banner that read: "IC Balakrishnan betrayed and killed our father and younger brother — we fast for justice."

The family told during an earlier press conference that they had personally requested Priyanka Gandhi not to field Balakrishnan as a candidate, and that she had given them a direct assurance that justice would be ensured and that he would be removed from all positions. The decision to field him again despite that promise, they said, is a betrayal of the family's trust. They also alleged that Balakrishnan had threatened them, saying he would show them what he could do once he won the election and became a minister. The family also revealed that they are currently burdened with debts exceeding one and a half crore rupees.

When Balakrishnan was DCC president, he allegedly accepted bribes by promising appointments in Congress-controlled cooperative banks, using Vijayan — then serving as treasurer — as an intermediary to collect the money. When Balakrishnan and others allegedly misappropriated the funds, the liability fell entirely on Vijayan's shoulders. It was the mental anguish arising from this situation that led Vijayan and his son Jijesh to take their own lives. Vijayan's suicide note explicitly named Balakrishnan as responsible for the misappropriation.

Balakrishnan is the first accused in both the abetment of suicide case and a vigilance case related to the appointment bribery, and is currently out on bail.