Kozhikode (Kerala) Dec 10 (IANS): Already under cloud for allegations of being close to Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the 'Kerala gold smuggling' case, the Congress party on Thursday attacked P.Sreeramakrishnan -- Speaker of the Assembly -- by levelling fresh charges of having blown up huge sums of money since he assumed the chair in 2016.

Speaking to the media here, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the total construction cost of building the Kerala Assembly then (in the mid-nineties) cost Rs 76 crores.

"Since Sreeramakrishnan took over as Speaker in 2016, so far he has blown up Rs 100 crores which includes fresh construction, holding programmes, etc. This is a colossal waste of money, when Kerala is passing through the worst of the financial crisis," said Chennithala.

"The post of the Speaker in a democracy is a hallowed one and that has all been thrown out of the window, as of late this speaker has courted trouble, which no other speaker has run into. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has to break his silence on the statement given by Swapna Suresh (the court has said there are big sharks involved) and he has to say who these are," said Chennithala.

"Lot of work has been handed over to the Uralungal labour contract co-operative society, flouting all norms. Speaker has given huge sums of money to them under 'mobilization advance', a thing which former State PWD minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju did and he is now in jail. All elementary norms have been violated by the Speaker," added Chennithala.

Chennithala's allegations against the Speaker came a day after his office denied that the Speaker had neither travelled with the accused nor has ever met any of them when he travelled to the Middle East.