THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: THE CPM state unit, which has been in the eye of the storm following the Anthoor incident — which saw an NRI investor end his life due to the apathy shown by the party-ruled municipality towards his Rs15 crore project — decided to ignore the public ire and give a clean chit to the chairperson saying the building was constructed by violating norms.
Public rage has been growing steadily since Sajan Parayil, the 49-year-old who returned from Nigeria and invested in the auditorium and villa complex, committed suicide a week ago after failing to get the ownership certificate from the Anthoor Municipality. The family pointed fingers at chairperson P K Shyamala, wife of Central Committee member M V Govindan for the suicide, while the issue became a hot topic of discussion in the media with CPM getting all the stick.
As the CPM tries to regroup after having suffered a drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha elections, it was not the kind of image that party wanted. But the state leadership which met in the capital said there were no lapses on the part of Shyamala, who is also a party district committee member. Party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan went a step further saying the chairperson does not have the power to issue the licence. It came after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan squarely put the blame on the officials even while keeping mum on Shyamala.
Kodiyeri told media persons that Shyamala had offered to resign, but the party was of the view that currently there was no need for her to do so.
“Municipal chairpersons have limited powers. The building was constructed violating norms. Instructions were given to rectify the same,” said Kodiyeri while blaming the officials for the lapses in the issue. The CPM leader reiterated the current scenario was such that it is the secretaries who take decisions and hence there was a need for corrective steps in that regard.
No attempt made to settle plaint against Binoy, says Kodiyeri
T’Puram: No efforts were made to settle the rape complaint against his son Binoy Kodiyeri, said CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The party state committee which met here on Monday gave its nod to Kodiyeri’s stance in the Binoy row. Even as the issue has been making ripples, the party stands with Kodiyeri, as it does not feel that he should stay away from the post in the wake of the controversy. With more skeletons tumbling out of the closet in the Binoy row, Kodiyeri admitted that his wife had gone to Mumbai in connection with the complaint. Kodiyeri said his wife Vinodini went to Mumbai as a mother to find out more details about the issue. Kodiyeri further added that no middlemen have been entrusted to settle the matter. In the wake of new revelations - Advocate Sreejith from Mumbai on Monday revealed that he had already informed Kodiyeri about the complaint - the CPM state chief further clarified that he came to know about the issue, when a case came up in January.