Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition disrupted the Assembly on Monday, accusing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration of nepotism in government appointments.
UDF members trooped into the well of the House, accusing the ruling front of lording over a legacy of preferential treatment for Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] nominees in postings in municipalities, government missions, public sector units and State-funded universities.
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Seeking an adjournment debate on alleged backdoor appoints via the “CPI(M) channel”, Congress legislator P. C. Vishnunath highlighted the purported letter allegedly written by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran to the CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan, “intimating” the latter about 295 vacancies in municipality-run public health centres.
“After penning a letter seeking a list of party nominees to fill the vacancies, the respected Mayor packed off to New Delhi to join a national protest against unemployment and backdoor appointments by the Central government. She had played a cruel joke on lakhs of unemployed youth in Kerala. The CPI(M) has rendered the employment exchange and Public Service Commission (PSC) worthless”, Mr. Vishnunath said
Local Self Government Institutions (LSGI) minister M. B. Rajesh said lies and half-truths informed the UDF’s “vicious character assassination” campaign against the Mayor.
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He said the Mayor had denied that she had written such a letter. The police suspect the Mayor’s signature on the “fake letter” is forged. They still need to retrieve the original copy of the fictitious letter.
So far, investigators have recovered only a mobile phone camera capture of the questionable document. Mr. Rajeesh reeled off employment exchange and PSC appointment figures to prove that the LDF government had appointed more youth to State-funded institutions than the previous UDF administration.
Leader of Opposition, V. D. Satheesan, said infighting in the CPI(M) over sharing the spoils from backdoor appointments had caused the “incriminating letter” to surface in the public domain. “It is not a fake document conjured up from thin air by the UDF, as the minister says”, he said.
Mr. Satheesan accused the government of throwing the meritocratic ideal to the wind to favour CPI(M) sponsored candidates.
He said, for one, the LDF has, on paper, sent appointments in PSUs to the PSC.
However, in actuality, the government has not framed special rules to implement the decision, leaving a window for CPI(M) satraps to insert their relatives into State-run institutions.
Mr. Satheesan said the CPI(M)‘s stranglehold over government appointments has caused the patience of lakhs of unemployed youth to wear thin.
Mr. Satheesan pointed out that Kerala’s unemployment rate was double the national average.
The LDF has done little to mitigate the situation. The promised 20 lakh new jobs yearly were yet to materialise, forcing thousands of youth to leave the State to eke out a living on strange shores.
Speaker A. N. Shamsheer rejected the opposition’s motion and adjourned the House for the day.
