Mayor Arya Rajendran on Monday sent a legal notice to Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather who had allegedly made personal remarks against her during the Mahila Congress’s protest last week at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office demanding the Mayor’s resignation over her alleged letter to the CPI(M) district secretary. She has demanded Ms.Mather to retract her statement and apologise within seven days, failing which civil and criminal proceedings will be initiated. She had come to the protest carrying a suitcase with a poster on it asking the Mayor to leave for Kozhikode with the “stolen money”, an act which led to criticism.
Meanwhile, even as the protests demanding the Mayor’s resignation over an alleged letter entered the second week, CPI(M) councillor and works standing committee chairman D.R. Anil told the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau that he has never seen the letter and had only seen the screenshot shown in the media. However, in his statement, he also reportedly said that he had destroyed another letter that he had written regarding the appointment of Kudumbahree volunteers to the SAT Hospital.
After a break of two days due to the weekend holidays, the opposition protests in front of the Corporation restarted on Monday with added vigour. Councillors of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) climbed atop the Corporation building and raised slogans demanding the Mayor’s resignation, while United Democratic Front (UDF) councillors occupied the lobby. The UDF councillors tied a black flag to the Mayor’s official vehicle. Ms.Rajendran arrived as usual along with a few CPI(M) councillors. Although the opposition councillors raised slogans, no one attempted to stop her.
