KOCHI: Thrikkakara municipality, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, has again courted controversy – this time over the tussle between chairperson Ajitha Thankappan, of the ruling UDF, and secretary B Anil Kumar.
Adding fuel to the fire, reports suggest that a few UDF members will abstain from the council meeting, on January 25, which has been convened to pass a resolution seeking the transfer of the secretary.
The local body, which also houses the district administration headquarters, was in the news recently over the ‘Onam gift’ to all 43 members and the purchase of flowers for the funeral ceremony of late Congress leader P T Thomas.
The UDF decided to pass the resolution seeking the transfer of the secretary alleging that he was attempting to bring the administration to a halt. Meanwhile, five members -- four Congress councillors and a Muslim League member -- abstained from the UDF parliamentary meeting that took the decision on Thursday.
There were reports that a few Congress leaders, reportedly belonging to the ‘I’ faction, approached the district leadership requesting that a whip be issued to councillors directing all party members to support the resolution. Congress members Radhamani Pillai, V D Suresh, Smitha Sunny, Jose Kalathil and Muslim League member Sajeena Akbar stayed away from the meeting.
Anil Kumar is on leave and superintendent Shalini Sam is currently in-charge. The ruling UDF council has alleged that the secretary is not signing files for sanctioning funds for ongoing construction work using the local body’s plan fund. He has been demanding project progress reports before allocating funds. According to Congress leaders, the secretary has been attempting to scuttle the development of Thrikkakara and levelling baseless allegations against the chairperson. They alleged that the secretary had shared a voice clip on a WhatsApp group abusing the chairperson.
Anil Kumar, on his part, alleged that the chairperson lodged complaints against him. Ajitha responded by saying that the secretary is humiliating the chairperson and the council. “He is attempting to create a crisis in the administration. We have already complained about it before the director of the urban affairs department,” she added.