A day after he admitted receiving funds from the owner of Nedumparambil Credit Syndicate (NCS) on Sunday, Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony found himself at the center of a political storm over alleged opaque election funding.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) has seized on the Congress MP’s consent to file a direct challenge and is preparing to approach the Election Commission alleging that Mr Antony failed to disclose the receipt of campaign funds in his official expenditure declaration.
Health Minister Veena George, who lost to Mr Antony in the 2019 parliamentary election, spoke to reporters and publicly questioned the extent and source of her campaign funding. “Did he really spend ₹2 crore during the election? Did he disclose the income of this fund to the Election Commission and while filing his annual tax returns?” asked Mrs. George.
“Explore Land Deals”
KP Udayabhanu, a CPI(M) state committee member and the first to level allegations of financial fraud against Pathanamthitta MP, went a step further by demanding a detailed probe into Mr Antony’s alleged land transactions in Bengaluru. He also wanted a special investigation team to look into the Sabarimala gold scandal to probe Mr. Antony’s financial transactions in Bengaluru.
The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating alleged money laundering by a non-banking financial company, has also included this aspect in its investigation.
They are silent about the amount
However, Mr. Antony refused to respond to media inquiries regarding the controversy. He had earlier admitted receiving funds from NM Raju, the owner of NCS, to finance his election campaign and claimed that the amount was repaid within two months. However, he refused to disclose the amount he actually received from this source, fueling speculation. On the other hand, Mr. Raju claimed that the MP received the money without any documentation and is yet to repay the amount.
Published – 08 Feb 2026 20:05 IST