Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan has urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Secretary S.M. Vijayanand to take disciplinary action against District Collector N. Prasanth for insulting him.
In his complaint, Mr. Raghavan said the Collector had tried to show him, an elected representative, in poor light through his Facebook posts and that the Collector had failed to respond to his questions on the implementation of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Division Scheme (MPLADS) in his constituency.
The spar between the Kozhikode MP and Kozhikode Collector had aggravated after Mr. Prasanth posted the map of Kunnamkulam on his Facebook page.
This sarcastic riposte was a reaction to Mr. Raghavan’s demand for an apology (‘mappu’ in Malayalam) after the Collector made an allegation against him. The allegation was that Mr. Raghavan had threatened the officials at the Collectorate in his absence during a review meeting of the projects under the MPLADS.
Mr. Raghavan said, “I met both the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary and apprised them of the issues pertaining to the Collector's response and attitude towards an MP. They told me that they were seriously considering the matter,” Mr. Raghavan said.
The Collector apparently reacted negatively when Mr. Raghavan began questioning the delay in passing the MPLADS bills.
MP funds
However, Mr. Prasanth said that MP funds were government money and the expenditure was made through a set procedure.
All MPs and MLAs had the right to identify the projects but should not seek exemptions from scrutiny and inspections, he said.
Regarding his Facebook post on Kunnamkulam map, the Collector said that it should not be linked to the demand for an apology from the Kozhikode MP. The post was just educating the public on the geography of the State, Mr. Prasanth said.
The spar aggravated after the Collector posted a sarcastic riposte to the
MP’s charges.
