There was a murmur among Congress leaders that Mani was a political threat to their game plan. ""In this backdrop was hatched the bar bribery scandal with the help of some bar owners and Congress leaders which they dropped on October 30 last year." KOCHI: The rift in Congress-led UDF in Kerala over the bar bribery scandal today came out in the open today with youth wing of Kerala Congress(M) directly accusing senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala of hatching a conspiracy to bring discredit to its leader K M Mani during UDF rule. "Many senior Congress leaders,including the then Cabinet ministers/Central leaders were actively engaged directly or through their proxies and political minions to bring discredit to our leader K M Mani ," the letter alleged. "They include Congress bigwigs like Adoor Prakash, Ramesh Chennithala, the then state Home Minister," it said.

Source: Economic Times July 02, 2016 16:52 UTC