<p>The BJP in Kerala is trying to cash in on cooperative bank scams in the state, which have caused embarrassment for both the CPM and the Congress.</p><p>BJP leaders are organizing demonstrations, accusing both the CPM and the Congress of misappropriating the funds of ordinary depositors and even providing assistance to the victims.</p><p>Suresh Gopi, the likely BJP candidate for Thrissur in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, a former Rajya Sabha MP and actor-turned-politician, led a major demonstration in Thrissur on Monday to protest against the scam at the CPM-led Karuvannur cooperative bank in the district.</p><p>On Wednesday, Gopi also visited the home of a depositor who recently passed away, allegedly due to a lack of proper treatment because the scam-hit cooperative bank did not return his deposit of Rs. 14 lakhs. Gopi pledged to settle the family's debts and provide medicines to the victim's elderly mother.</p><p>In a damage control move, the ruling CPM assured that all deposits would be gradually returned with the support of other cooperative banks. The party also launched a confidence-building campaign among the depositors of cooperative banks.</p><p>BJP organised a demonstration in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday where a CPI governed cooperative bank, Kandala Cooperative bank, is facing allegations of irregularities.</p><p>The Congress is also facing embarrassment over alleged scams at cooperative banks involving party leaders. While Congress leaders are implicated in a scam at the Pulpally cooperative bank in Wayanad, former Congress minister V S Sivakumar is facing protests from depositors of the Thiruvananthapuram District Unemployed Social Welfare Cooperative Society, which Sivakumar allegedly has links to.</p><p>BJP state president K Surendran said in a statement on Wednesday that the Congress-led United Democratic Front was equally responsible for the irregularities in the cooperative banking sector and hence they were not effectively taking up the grievances of depositors of the left-party ruled cooperative bank.</p>
<p>The BJP in Kerala is trying to cash in on cooperative bank scams in the state, which have caused embarrassment for both the CPM and the Congress.</p><p>BJP leaders are organizing demonstrations, accusing both the CPM and the Congress of misappropriating the funds of ordinary depositors and even providing assistance to the victims.</p><p>Suresh Gopi, the likely BJP candidate for Thrissur in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, a former Rajya Sabha MP and actor-turned-politician, led a major demonstration in Thrissur on Monday to protest against the scam at the CPM-led Karuvannur cooperative bank in the district.</p><p>On Wednesday, Gopi also visited the home of a depositor who recently passed away, allegedly due to a lack of proper treatment because the scam-hit cooperative bank did not return his deposit of Rs. 14 lakhs. Gopi pledged to settle the family's debts and provide medicines to the victim's elderly mother.</p><p>In a damage control move, the ruling CPM assured that all deposits would be gradually returned with the support of other cooperative banks. The party also launched a confidence-building campaign among the depositors of cooperative banks.</p><p>BJP organised a demonstration in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday where a CPI governed cooperative bank, Kandala Cooperative bank, is facing allegations of irregularities.</p><p>The Congress is also facing embarrassment over alleged scams at cooperative banks involving party leaders. While Congress leaders are implicated in a scam at the Pulpally cooperative bank in Wayanad, former Congress minister V S Sivakumar is facing protests from depositors of the Thiruvananthapuram District Unemployed Social Welfare Cooperative Society, which Sivakumar allegedly has links to.</p><p>BJP state president K Surendran said in a statement on Wednesday that the Congress-led United Democratic Front was equally responsible for the irregularities in the cooperative banking sector and hence they were not effectively taking up the grievances of depositors of the left-party ruled cooperative bank.</p>