THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Thiruvananthapuram corporation council on Friday as the BJP, with the support of an independent councillor and Mayor V V Rajesh’s casting vote, secured approval for six-month leave for jailed councillor R Sugathan, who is detained under KAAPA amid protests from the opposition. The resolution, based on a leave application forwarded by Sugathan through the superintendent of Viyyur Central Prison, was passed with 51 votes in the 101-member council.
BJP garnered the required majority with the backing of Independent councillor Sudheesh Kumar of Poundkadavu ward, while the mayor exercised his casting vote to ensure that the motion was passed. The council session began with a presentation on the proposed design for new corporation headquarters. BJP councillors welcomed the proposal, but when LDF parliamentary party leader S P Deepak sought to speak, the mayor refused permission and insisted that Sugathan’s leave application be taken up first.
The mayor read out a July 20 communique issued by the UDF government stating that although the home department had rejected Sugathan’s request for leave from detention, he could seek leave through the corporation council via the jail superintendent. If the council approved the request, his post would remain protected.
The announcement triggered an uproar, with LDF and UDF councillors accusing BJP of protecting a councillor detained under KAAPA. Amid the uproar, the mayor declared the leave application passed and later announced that agenda items had been approved without discussion before abruptly concluding the meeting.
Both LDF and UDF councillors met the corporation secretary and submitted complaints seeking action to disqualify Sugathan. “There is no provision in the Kerala Municipality Act to grant leave in such a manner.
We will challenge the resolution before the State Election Commission and other legal forums to ensure Sugathan’s membership is cancelled in accordance with the law,” UDF parliamentary party leader K S Sabarinadhan. “If the government believes this decision is legal, it should defend it before the courts and the State Election Commission. Democratic institutions cannot be run by silencing dissent and misusing numerical strength,” said LDF leader Deepak.