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Thiruvananthapuram: Just two days into the new Thiruvananthapuram mayor VV Rajesh assuming charge, a controversy has erupted where CPI(M) leader V K Prasanth who is also an MLA from the Vattiyoorkavu constituency in Thiruvananthapuram has alleged that he was asked by BJP councillor R Sreelekha to vacate his office after the BJP took over the reins of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.
“She has asked me to vacate my office in the Corporation building. She said her new councillor office does not have the necessary facility and that she wanted me to evict from my office in Sasthamangalam”, said VK Prashanth.
Prasanth told reporters that Sreelekha contacted him over the phone and asked him to vacate his office in the Corporation’s building in Sasthamangalam. Sreelekha, a retired DGP, won the recent local body election on a BJP ticket. The saffron party currently in power in Thiruvananthapuram corporation, winning 50 of 101 divisions in the city.
“She contacted me asking to vacate my office. She said the councillor’s office in the same building doesn't have adequate facilities and that she wants to occupy the space currently used by the MLA,” Prasanth said. He said his MLA office has been functioning in the building for the past seven years and that earlier a BJP councillor had also used a portion of the same building as an office.
“When I was the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, a decision was taken to allow office space for ward councillors. After becoming MLA, I submitted an application to the Corporation and the space was allotted on rent,” he said
“This is equivalent to handling things the way it is done in Police station”
Prasanth said the procedure requires the Corporation Secretary to issue an eviction notice. “Here, a councillor is directly calling an MLA and demanding eviction. This is like handling things the way it is done in a police station,” he alleged.
He likened the move to “Bulldozer Raj”, claiming that policies adopted by the BJP in some North Indian states were being replicated in Thiruvananthapuram.
When asked whether his office had occupied space meant for the ward councillor, Prasanth admitted that some additional space was being used due to the large number of people visiting his office.
“The councillor’s office is functioning there and a name board has been installed in front of the room. Councillors rarely use the space and mostly function from the Corporation office,” he said.
