CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K Selvaperunthagai on Friday accused the BJP-led Union government of protecting a corrupt Chennai BSNL official and demanded immediate action against him over an alleged bribery case linked to a BSNL telecom cable contract in Kerala.
Condemning the Union government, Selvaperunthagai said Prime Minister Narendra Modi often speaks about eradicating corruption, but that the BJP government instead protects corrupt officials.
Selvaperunthagai alleged that Rajendran, who served as the principal general manager of BSNL in Kerala between 2017 and 2019, had demanded a bribe of around Rs 20 lakh from a contractor in connection with a project to lay underground telecommunication cables in the state.
According to the TNCC chief, the contractor later filed a complaint and based on the complaint, a case was registered and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted a raid at the official's residence.
He said that following the investigation, the CBI's Kochi unit registered a case against Rajendran under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. However, Selvaperunthagai claimed that no disciplinary action has been taken by the BSNL department against the official so far.
Selvaperunthagai further alleged that although the complaint was filed four years ago, the FIR was registered only on January 9, 2026. He said all relevant evidence had been submitted to the CBI, which, in turn, shared the material with BSNL for verification. Senior officials in the organisation reportedly examined the documents and confirmed their authenticity to the investigating agency.
Despite these developments, the TNCC president claimed that Rajendran has not been arrested so far and is allegedly being allowed to receive a promotion before his retirement scheduled in April 2026.
He urged the Modi government to take immediate action against the BSNL official.