“If something happens to me, Amma (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa) will be there to defend me,” says Biju Ramesh, businessman and whistleblower in the bar bribery scam who is the AIADMK candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Central Assembly constituency.

Ramesh, 51, the Working President of the Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association, who took the lid off the bar bribery scam that shook the Oommen Chandy government, is among the seven candidates the Tamil party is fielding in Kerala. The AIADMK has little presence in Kerala except in the Tamil pockets in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki and Palakkad districts.

A ‘personal’ battle

“To me, this is not a political fight; this is a fight for personal survival in a highly hostile environment in which I alone am defending myself,” he told BusinessLine . “I hope by choosing to contest the election, the AIADMK will provide me a platform and that the party and its great leader will protect me.”

Alone? With all his wealth, connections and influence? “Yes, I have realised from my experience that when I am in trouble, all these connections and allies in Kerala will not come forward to protect me.” His revelations had cost him dearly in terms of money, time and court battles.

Ramesh had become a household name after revelations that he and other bar owners had paid crores in bribes to three ministers as well as officials to get their cancelled bar licences renewed. In the wake of his revelations, Finance Minister KM Mani was forced to resign. Excise Minister K Babu quit too, only to return a week later. Because of the Chandy government’s liquor policy, Ramesh’s Rajadhani Group had to close down lucrative bars at eight of its hotels.

But of all the parties, why the AIADMK? Why not a major Kerala party? “I was surprised when the party announced my candidat-ure,” he said. “I tried to wriggle out of it, but the party persisted.”

AIADMK connection

Of course, he had been a member of the AIADMK “in Tamil Nadu” for six years. This was to fend off DMK cadre who would try to extort money from him. It was only after it was known that he was an AIADMK man that the extortion ceased, he claimed.

“ Amma has asked me to meet her on Wednesday,” Ramesh said. “Of course, I will make a last-minute attempt to wriggle out of the election, too.”