CPI(M) district secretary P. Rajeev on Thursday called for the immediate resignation of Mayor Soumini Jain, alleging that she had no right to continue in office as she had failed to address waterlogging in the city despite the Chief Minister’s intervention.
Mr. Rajeev was speaking after inaugurating the siege of the corporation office by the district committee of the CPI(M), demanding a solution to waterlogging and waste management crisis in the city.
“The city gets inundated in a heavy spell of rain even for a day,” Mr. Rajeev said, adding that the Mayor, who turned a blind eye even to the threat of a potential epidemic breakout due to waterlogging, should step down.
Making fun of the Mayor and the Ernakulam MLA for allegedly claiming credit for roads that were properly maintained by the Kochi metro, Mr. Rajeev alleged that the duo was now trying to evade responsibility for waterlogging by putting the blame on the KMRL.
“It is the city residents who suffer because of squabbles within the UDF and the Congress. Not only has the civic body failed to maintain the gains in sanitation achieved during the LDF rule but slipped to an abysmal 271st position,” he said.
Mr. Rajeev added that the apprehensions over the proposed waste treatment plant had been brought to the notice of the Chief Minister. Based on the demand for clarity in the agreement, talks were held with the company concerned on doing away with the clause for fine in the event of a dip in the volume of waste delivered for treatment, he said.
Earlier, LDF councillors and members of the CPI(M) district committee and area committee attended the march.
