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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as ADGP M R Ajith Kumar’s meeting with the RSS leadership has put the Left on the defensive, the home department feels there is nothing wrong with such personal meetings.
Sources in the home department also maintained that no intelligence report was submitted to the chief minister regarding the meeting between the ADGP and the RSS national leaders.
“No such report was submitted, nor was a warning given to the government in this regard. There’s nothing wrong in officials meeting individuals unofficially at their level. Such meetings happen at all times in any government,” a home department official told TNIE.
Sources close to the government said it has decided to come out with an explanation for the controversy over ADGP Ajith Kumar. The government terms opposition charges over the ADGP’s controversial meeting with RSS leaders baseless.
“It is alleged that the ADGP met RSS national leader Dattatreya Hosabale to create a favourable atmosphere for BJP in the last Lok Sabha election by disrupting the Thrissur Pooram. According to them, the meeting took place in May 2023. The parliamentary elections were held in May 2024. What’s the logic behind raising an allegation that two persons met a year earlier to create a favourable atmosphere for the BJP by disrupting the pooram?” a source said.
The government is also of the view that disciplinary action against a senior IPS officer merely based on an unofficial meeting with RSS leaders and by succumbing to political pressure might cause a setback. The DGP-led inquiry is progressing after MLA P V Anvar submitted a complaint to the chief minister.
CPM thinks not to act in haste, allowing time for govt to take action
Meanwhile, the CPM leadership too is adopting a cautious approach over the controversy. It has decided not to act in haste, allowing the government its own time to act. “There’s nothing wrong in a civil servant meeting an RSS leader in his capacity. The issue arises if he tries to destabilise the government. Several IPS and IAS officers are meeting the RSS-BJP leaders nowadays as it is controlling the Indian state,” a CPM state secretariat member told TNIE.
However, discontent is brewing within the CPM and the pressure is on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM state secretary Govindan to come out with a clarification and measures that would protect the interest of the LDF government. Among a section of the party’s state and district committee members, there are apprehensions about the fallout of the ADGP row.
“The incident has put a bad mark on the government as far as the secular and minority section in society is concerned,” a CPM district secretariat member from north Kerala said.