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Journalism of Courage
CPI(M) leader and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran finds herself in yet another controversy with a letter purportedly written by her surfacing, in which she asks the party for a list of workers to be appointed to temporary posts in government offices.
While Rajendran has denied writing the letter, which seems to be on her official pad, the BJP seized on the matter. Since the CPI(M) came to power in 2016, it has faced accusations of providing party workers backdoor entry into government jobs, which were regularised later.
The BJP asked Rajendran to take up the matter with the police cyber cell and seek a probe, if the letter was fabricated.
The letter, which first surfaced in the local media, was purportedly written by Rajendran to CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan on November 1, seeking a list of party workers for 295 temporary posts in urban primary health centres of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation – including one for a public health expert, 74 posts for doctors, 66 for staff nurses and 64 for pharmacists.
Denying sending such a letter, Rajendran said: “I was not in Thiruvananthapuram on the date mentioned in the alleged letter. The party will look into it.”
Nagappan, incidentally, was less categorical. “I cannot say that the letter is fake, I haven’t seen it,” the CPI(M) district secretary said. “The issue is very serious.”
BJP state president K Surendran demanded that the corporation governing council be dissolved in view of the letter, and that Rajendran must quit. “Is it the role of the CPI(M) district secretary to fill jobs in a corporation? Vacancies should have been reported to the employment exchange. This job racket of the CPI(M) is a challenge to the people and the lakhs of jobless youths of the state. This is nepotism and violation of the oath of office.”
Celebrated as the youngest Mayor of the country when she took over in 2020 at the age of 21, Rajendran has since run into a series of controversies. The first of these was her announcement of sports teams of students based on their caste. She said it was to ensure adequate representation, but the protests that followed forced the CPI(M) district leadership to intervene and the decision was withdrawn.
Then, in September, Rajendran suspended seven permanent employees and terminated the services of four temporary staffers of the corporation after they threw away their Onam food in protest against not being allowed time to take part in the festival celebrations. They belonged to the CPI(M)’s own trade union, CITU.
Rajendran’s action drew flak on social media, as well as party colleagues like CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan. CITU sought the staffers’ reinstatement, and Rajendran was forced to comply.
Last month, Rajendran again landed the CPI(M) in a spot when the Thiruvananthapuram corporation allowed a private hotel to use a portion of a major road in the city, falling under the state PWD, for parking. At the intervention of the government, the corporation later cancelled the agreement.
The latest controversy has the potential to snowball for the ruling CPI(M) given the demand for government jobs. In Kerala, 37 lakh people, including professionals, are currently registered in employment exchanges, and the government is required to first fill temporary posts from their rolls.
