KOCHI: The search for Neethu Johnson Mankara, who wrote to Anil Akkara, MLA, requesting him to stop the politics over the LIFE Mission project at Wadakkanchery as her family is said to be one of its beneficiaries, is likely to continue as a war of words has erupted in public with UDF, Congress and CPM leaders accusing each other.
When the wait by Akkara along with Alathur MP Remya Haridas and Congress Wadakkanchery municipal councillor Zairabanu for Neethu on the roadside near Mankara in Thrissur from 9am to 11am ended without any result, the MLA lodged a complaint with the police to trace the person. He said if the police fail, he would approach the High Court seeking clarity on this matter. To keep the issue alive in the mainstream, various UDF leaders gave offers to Neethu. While RSP leader Shibu Baby John offered free civil service coaching to her, an INTUC leader and Akkara himself offered land with a house for her family.
Meanwhile, DYFI state secretary A A Rahim recalled the past incidents in which Congress leaders allegedly destroyed their own houses and accused CPM to get media attention. “Who knows if she were really a fictitious character and whether Akkara himself had sent the letter in the name of Neethu to get media attention as his is a party of Satheeshan Kanjikuzhis (Jayasurya’s character in popular Malayalam movie ‘Classmates’),” he told a media channel.
The letter purportedly written by Neethu, who claimed to be a Plus Two school student, had been doing the rounds on social media for the past few days. In the letter, she claimed that her family has been staying in a rickety hut in a puramboke land. The letter also said one of the votes Akkara received in the last assembly election was that of her mother who works in a textile shop to make a living. Since she would benefit from the LIFE Mission project which has courted controversy over a slew of procedural violations, she pleaded the MLA to stop playing politics over the project.
Following this, the MLA decided to meet Neethu when his attempt to reach out to her through various means failed to yield results. He then announced that he would wait for her at the roadside venue for two hours on Tuesday. MP Remya Haridas and Congress councillor Zairabanu joined Akkara in his wait for her on the roadside. However, the person didn’t turn up.