Mayor Arya row: Opposition ends stir after CPI(M) removes Standing Committee chairman

DR Anil, who is also the parliamentary party leader of the LDF in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, resigned as the Public Works Standing Committee chairman as directed by the ruling party.
BJYM activists protest demanding Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran's resignation
BJYM activists protest demanding Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran's resignation
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The nearly two-month-long protest staged by opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress at the city civic body in Thiruvananthapuram over two purported letters regarding temporary appointments, came to an end on Saturday, December 31, as the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) removed its Standing Committee Chairman who was facing allegations in the controversial case. DR Anil, who is also the parliamentary party leader of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, resigned as the Public Works Standing Committee chairman as directed by the ruling party.

The BJP and Congress decided to end the demonstration after they got an assurance regarding the removal of Anil during an all-party meeting convened under the aegis of Local Self Government Minister MB Rajesh on Friday. The civic body had been facing intense protests for the last 56 days.

The row began early November after two letters, in the letter-heads of Mayor Arya Rajendran and Anil, addressing CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan regarding the temporary appointments of party cadres, surfaced in the media. While the purported letter by Arya was with regard to the temporary appointments in the corporation, Anil's alleged letter was in connection with the contractual appointments at the state-run Sree Avittam Thirunal (SAT) hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

The mayor had categorically rejected the charges and said she had not written such a letter, but Anil admitted that he had prepared such a letter but did not send it to the party's district secretary. Meanwhile, BJP district president VV Rajesh said the party would temporarily withdraw its councillors' agitation in front of the city corporation in the wake of Anil's resignation but would go ahead with other forms of agitation demanding the resignation of the mayor.

A hartal, called by the party on January 7 in this regard, was also withdrawn in the wake of the present developments, he said. "The agitation in front of the Corporation is withdrawn for the time being. Other campaigns and agitations against the corruption and backdoor appointments in the Corporation will continue. We strongly stand by our demand for the resignation of Mayor Arya Rajendran," Rajesh told PTI.

He said that the BJP agreed to withdraw the nearly two-month-long stir as it does not want the agitation becoming a hurdle for the day-to-day affairs of the corporation which would affect the lives of the common people, he said.

Padmakumar, parliamentary party leader of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Corporation, told PTI that the Congress also withdrew the agitation. He said they got assurance from the government that a final decision on the resignation of the mayor would be taken in accordance with the verdict of a case pending in the High Court in connection with the row.

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