The Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau in Kerala on Sunday ordered an investigation against state Congress chief K Sudhakaran on a petition filed by his former driver Prasanth Babu, reported The New Indian Express.

In his complaint, Babu had alleged that the Congress leader has collected wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. “Sudhakaran had misappropriated funds during the construction of the Kannur District Congress Committee office and from the trust which is in the name of former chief minister late K Karunakaran,” he had alleged.

Sudesh Kumar, the director general of police of the anti-corruption body, asked the vigilance team to submit a report on the allegations soon. Unidentified officials told IANS that the first step of the investigation will be to check the veracity of the allegations and further investigation will then be ordered based on the preliminary report.

The Congress has hit out at the Kerala government for ordering the inquiry, calling the move a political vendetta. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said that Pinarayi Vijayan-led government was taking such action to “insult political leaders” as part of its propaganda campaign.

“As per the law, even a preliminary inquiry cannot be made against an MP without the permission of the Lok Sabha Speaker,” Satheesan said. “If the government wanted to take up the case, it would have to first seek permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker.”

Former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala also called the move politically motivated. “I am surprised that an internal issue in the Congress is being probed by the vigilance,” he said. “The vigilance director has no right to issue a directive to the Kozhikode SP to initiate a preliminary probe against Sudhakaran.”

Chennithala also claimed the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the Left Democratic Front government in the state, is scared of Sudhakaran. He said that this explained the inquiry order when there was no vigilance angle in the allegations.