Yechury gets a taste of Kerala party
That there is no love lost between the Kerala unit of CPI(M) and its general secretary Sitaram Yechury is an open secret. Yechury once again got a taste of it as the Kerala unit is learned to have put its foot down when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi offered to support him for the upcoming Rajya Sabha vacancy in West Bengal. The Kerala party, which tried its best to scuttle Yechury becoming the general secretary, is learnt to have cited the party convention of not getting involved in parliamentary politics. The Kerala party also made it clear that Yechury reaching RS with the support of Congress will affect the morale of the cadre here which is engaged in direct fight with the Congress.
Not just a bureaucrat
One of the first files CM Pinarayi Vijayan pushed through, after his ascension as Kerala chief minister, was the removal of T.P.Senkumar from the post of Kerala police chief. Now, as the government is set to celebrate its first anniversary, Senkumar had found his way back—and how. The SC, in a landmark judgment, asked the government to reinstate Senkumar.
"I will get the attested court order on Thursday and will hand it over to the government without delay. Once the government receives the order, it is bound to implement it within 24 hours,'' Senkumar told The WEEK.
It will be counted as contempt of court if the court order is not implemented within the time frame.
He said that the SC order will protect officials from being pawns at the hands of political leaders. When asked whether it was political vendetta on the part of the government that he was sidelined, the officer said he cannot comment at this juncture.
That the government is in no mood to reinstate the official is apparent, given the government has not made any move despite the SC order.
"We are yet to receive the original copy of the order,'' said an official with the home department. It is also learnt that the government had tried to wriggle out from taking Senkumar back even after the SC order. But sane advisors saved the Pinarayi government from further embarrassment.
Nostalgic assembly
It was a walk down the memory lane for the older MLAs and a totally new experience for the younger ones as the Kerala assembly met in the ancestral original building to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first session.
The first session, held on April 27, 1957 in the assembly hall located at the secretariat, had seen the swearing-in of MLAs and the election of a speaker. The last session held in this hall was on June 29, 1998 after it was shifted to the new building a couple of kilometers away. The new building had cost the exchequer a whooping Rs 75 crore.
And the session was not just celebratory. It did take up the bill which makes it compulsory to teach Malayalam in all schools in the state.
Nothing will change Mani
The CPI(M) state committee may have decided to censure Electricity Minister M M Mani for innuendo-ridden speech about Pembilai Orumai, the first ever women-only trade union movement. But Mani, known better for foot-in-mouth syndrome, is capable of more vitriol. His infamous "123 speech", where he publicly exalted at the way the party finishes off the class enemy is still fresh in the public memory.
Mani, handpicked by Pinarayi to the cabinet, has been headache to the CM ever since his induction, despite the fact that CM had specifically asked him to tone down his speeches. "Nothing will change Maniyashan; not even ministership,'' said one of his acolytes. May be true.
The CM too may have realised this truth and hence the rumours of Mani being dropped in the proposed cabinet reshuffle expected to happen in the coming months.
CPI(M) and CPI fight over even Mohanlal
The tussle between the CPI(M) and the CPI has stooped to such a level its leaders have started fighting over an award given to actor Mohanlal. When CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran commented that he did not know how and for what Mohanlal was given the national award this time, senior CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan immediately retorted. Enumerating the great films that Mohanlal has acted in, Jayarajan questioned the sensibility and eligibility of the CPI leader to criticise Mohanlal. The CPI leader gave it back saying that he has been active in theater movement since his younger days and said that the CPI(M) leader need not teach him about film and acting.
