Backdoor appointment bid puts Thiruvananthapuram Mayor in trouble

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13: A fresh controversy has erupted after CPI(M) District Secretary Anavoor Nagappan said that police Crime Branch officers recorded his statement after a letter allegedly written by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran went viral in the public.

Earlier, the police on Saturday denied recording the statement of Nagappan.

This comes after the Opposition BJP and Congress workers protested peacefully before the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Rajendran regarding temporary appointments of CPI(M) cadres in the Left-ruled civic body.

Since November 7, the Opposition BJP and the Congress have been staging protests before the civic body demanding the resignation of its Mayor for trying to recommend jobs for 295 CPI(M) workers, after a letter allegedly written by Rajendran to Nagappan went viral in public.

Simnce the last five days, the police resorted to using water cannons and firing tear gas shells when the protesters tried to forcefully enter the Corporation office compound and at times, the former lathicharged the protesters.

However, the Corporation Mayor denied writing any such letter while a second letter allegedly confirmed to be written by CPI(M) Councillor D.R. Anil to Nagappan, the latter denied receiving both the letters.

What turned out to be a rude jolt for the ruling CPI(M) was that both these letters found its way into the public domain, leaving the entire top party brass red-faced.

Nagappan told the media that the police Crime Branch investigation team had met him.

"I don't think I need to discuss with the media what was spoken to the probe team," said Nagappan, who maintained that he did meet the probe team, however, the police team denied meeting Nagappan.

Meanwhile, following a complaint to the Vigilance Department against the nepotism prevailing in the Corporation, the Vigilance officials recorded statements of both Rajendran and Nagappan.

But what continues to baffle many is that till now, the Crime Branch police is yet to register an FIR leaving tongues wagging that there will be no outcome to the probe as at the end, there will be a clean chit that would be given, as any in-depth probe could well play spoilsport to CPI(M) and the factionalism in the Thiruvananthapuram party unit could emerge out in public.