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Friday, March 29, 2024

Konni CPM MLA calls CPI corrupt: Kerala

On Friday, Adv. K U Jenish Kumar, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM MLA from Konni, raised some serious allegations against Konni taluk office staff. He said the buses the state government employees used for an excursion belonged to a quarry owner, thereby insinuating corruption. With a staff capacity of over 60, the taluk office worked with just ten, and citizens suffered.

Incidentally, in Kerala, the Revenue Department is handled by Adv. K Rajan from the Communist Party of India (CPI). Konni is in the Pathanamthitta district, and like most government offices, taluk office staff are CPI-led trade union members. 

Though government employees are not supposed to become members of trade unions, militant tactics ensure that every worker joins one (primarily communist). Incidentally, even the state police force has a recognized trade union. They are called Police Associations and have faced multiple allegations.

CPM and CPI are alliance partners who have now taken the Kerala model to such heights that the state is drowning in public debts estimated to be around four lakh fifty thousand crore rupees. CPI is the B team of the CPM, with a few dummy ministers thrown in for comfort. Unlike the green communists in the CPM, the CPI mainly consists of atheist Hindus In Name Only (HINOs). 

Since being elected Secretary of CPI Kerala State Council in 2015, the political outfit has been led by Kanam Rajendran. While CPM still prefers the title ‘Union’ for its labor trade associations, CPI calls them ‘State Councils.’

Rajendran’s role in Kerala is allegedly similar to what CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury does in Delhi. While Yechury acts as the jester/schemer in Sonia/Rahul Gandhi’s court, Rajendran does it in Pinarayi Vijayan/P A Mohammad Riyas’s Kangaroo court. The CPI leaders constantly justify the wrongs committed by CPM. It is usually mentioned that the aim is to block the BJP from coming to power.

A Three-Day Munnar Fun Trip sponsored by the Quarry Mafia?

Konni Taluk Officers enjoying their Munnar excursion (Images courtesy 24 News)

The Konni Taluk office staff council organized a pleasure trip to Munnar with 42 government officials, including Tehsildar L Kunjachan. Since the second Saturday and Sunday are holidays, the employees took leave on Friday too and embarked on the three-day journey. They knew hundreds of ordinary citizens would arrive at the taluk office, but the staff did not care since the unions would protect them.

The Konni taluk office caters to thousands of Keralites, including those from remote villages like Gavi. They come from places where there are no transport facilities. Empty chairs greeted those who arrived at the taluk office on Friday.

Out of 63 employees, only 21 reported for work that day. Soon, news trickled out that the Konni taluk office was working without staff. When reporters contacted local MLA Jenish, he initially denied the report as mere accusations. Incidentally, his office is just next to the taluk office, and Jenish arrived there pretty soon. 

When he checked the attendance register, 21 employees had signed in that day, out of which half were not in their seats. Suspiciously, Jenish did not question the missing one’s whereabouts. So, the Konni taluk office was functioning with just ten staff, and hundreds, including the physically challenged, waited outside in the harsh sun.  

Of the 42 who went on tour, 20 employees had been granted leave. This meant 22 office staff were absent without leave or were allowed to enjoy the trip illegally. Jenish said that Kunjachan, the Tehsildar took leave after informing that he could not attend a meeting of revenue officials called by Revenue Minister Rajan.

Reportedly, each employee paid Rs.3,000 towards’ expenses.’ Even a decent dormitory in Munnar costs Rs.500 plus taxes per head daily. They traveled in two buses, allegedly belonging to a local quarry owner. The largest quarries in Pathanamthitta come under the Konni range.

Although Konni has its Tehsildar, the tour program was led by a former Tehsildar. He was promoted and transferred from here and is now a Deputy Collector. There are allegations that an employee from the State Council, who examines the quarry files, arranged the trip. 

Meanwhile, CPI Pathanamthitta district assistant secretary P R Gopinathan alleged that Jenish behaved like an opposition MLA. The MLA tried to portray the Revenue Department and the employees badly. He asked whether an MLA has the authority to examine the attendance register.

Jenish asked revenue minister Rajan to investigate the incident and reveal the truth. He added that taluk office staff are paid salaries by the government and go on excursions sponsored by quarry owners. During the tenure of the previous Tehsildar, there were allegations that all of them were controlled by some others (quarry mafia). Jenish said those criticizing him should determine whether the quarry owners are above the people’s representatives and officials.

Jenish contacted Rajan, who sought an immediate explanation from the Tehsildar. He also ordered a report on the incident from Divya S Iyer, the Pathanamthitta District Collector, within five days. The Collector instructed the taluk office to immediately send her the details of all the employees absent from the office. 

The Collector will also inquire whether there the quarry mafia sponsored the excursion. Incidentally, Divya collected an award last month from Home Minister Amit Shah for implementing an excellent plan that regulated and streamlined the queue of devotees to the hill shrine of Sabarimala. The Konni taluk office incident will put her diplomacy to the test.

Even as the war of words happened in full public view, the taluk office staff shamelessly engaged in song and dance and continued with their trip. Video footage and photographs of the trip were also released. Not a single CPI state head or powerful State Council leader protested. Are the unions controlling the government?

The incident reminded the public of the disgraced former chief secretary M Sivasankar IAS boasting about his relationship with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Sivasankar told Swapna Suresh that all he had to do was slip Vijayan a tissue paper, and the CM would sign on it, no questions asked. Experts pointed out that party leaders are happy once their ‘levies’ reach their bank accounts regularly.

Adjustment Politics?

As mentioned, the CPM uses the CPI to play the good cop and bad cop routine to fool its workers. It usually happens whenever the going gets tough. Right now, even the communist cadre openly questions the recent price hike of fossil fuels, water, electricity, rice, milk, and essential food items. Massive opposition protests are also rocking the state against the same.

Chintha Jerome and the controversial Kollam resort owners

Another issue is Chintha Jerome, Chairperson of the Kerala State Youth Commission, a quasi-judicial institution under the government of Kerala. No one knows what the commission has done for public good over the years. The government recently doubled her salary from Rs.50,000 to one lakh and has provided her with official accommodation, Innova cars, and plenty of staff.

Jerome was recently found staying at an infamous four-star ayurvedic resort near Kollam in a three-bed apartment with Rs 8,490 daily rent. Jerome stayed there for one-and-a-half years but claimed she paid just Rs 20,000 monthly, including electricity and water charges.

Jerome’s thesis for a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Kerala was found to contain factual errors and plagiarised. She continues to be paid rupees one lakh per month based on that doctorate.

Even in this acute financial crisis, the Kerala government paid rupees eight lakhs as salary ‘arrears’ to Jerome. Earlier, she lied and said she never asked the government to pay her the arrears. The communist leader accepted both stipends for her Ph.D. research and the salary of the youth commission chairperson simultaneously, which was against the law.

Her biggest blooper came when the SFI/DYFI leader said Che Guevara was born in Cuba. As if to mask this folly, the CPM invited the fanatical communist’s granddaughter to Kerala. Jerome acted like a guide and stayed with her at the same controversial ayurvedic resort in Kollam.

On the same day of the controversial Konni taluk office trip, the media reported that Jerome verbally abused restaurant workers for serving her food late. She did so in full public view and had come to the restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram along with CPM politburo member M A Baby and his wife.

Reportedly, Comrade K U Jenish Kumar MLA is currently a Kerala State Youth Commission member.

Incidentally, Konni is also the constituency where 33,000 odd citizens voted for Kerala BJP president K Surendran in the 2021 assembly elections. In the 2019 by-elections, he polled 40,000 odd votes. Jenish defeated Surendran on both occasions. Unlike Smriti Irani, who lost to Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in 2014 but continued to serve the constituency until she won in 2019, Surendran is nowhere to be seen in Konni after the 2021 defeat.

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