Kochi, March 31 (NationPress) Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala called for an apology from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and State Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan following the Kerala High Court's decision to halt proceedings regarding a disputed software contract in the cooperative sector.

He asserted that the court's ruling indicates serious allegations of corruption surrounding the initiative aimed at implementing software in the state’s primary cooperative societies.

Chennithala criticized the government for pushing to award the contract to the Dinesh Beedi Cooperative Society, which submitted a significantly inflated bid.

He recalled how, when he initially raised concerns about the deal, the Chief Minister ridiculed him and defended the contract as advantageous for the state, while Minister Vasavan dismissed his accusations.

"Both Vijayan and Vasavan owe the people of Kerala an apology for their misleading statements during the election campaign," Chennithala stated.

He elaborated on the tendering process, mentioning that bids were sought to introduce software across 4,415 branches of 1,612 cooperative societies.

According to Chennithala, Malabar Information Technology Cooperative offered a comprehensive project cost of Rs 231.7 crore, while the Dinesh consortium's bid was only for Rs 49.9 crore, covering just 280 branches.

This translates to a per-branch cost of Rs 17.8 lakh for Dinesh's bid, in stark contrast to the Rs 5.24 lakh proposed by Malabar IT.

If applied to all branches, the cost associated with the Dinesh consortium’s proposal could balloon to approximately Rs 785 crore, leading to an estimated loss of nearly Rs 550 crore for the state treasury, he argued.

Chennithala further claimed that the tender specifications were intentionally structured to exclude major players, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), thereby limiting competition from reputable international firms.

He accused the state government of bypassing standard tender protocols and attempting to finalize the contract during the election season with special concessions from the Election Commission.

The Kerala High Court was petitioned by Malabar Information Technology Cooperative against the government's effort to award the contract to Dinesh.

A reverse auction for the initiative took place in mid-February 2026, which saw only two bidders successfully qualify in the technical evaluation.

"This government's effort to push through what appears to be a substantial scam in the twilight of its administration has been brought to light. Should this deal proceed, it would have resulted in significant financial detriment to the state," Chennithala contended, adding that the Chief Minister's assertions regarding the contract's advantages were "utterly misleading."