Congress, CPI slam ‘Chief Secretary rule’ in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress led opposition and the ruling Left Front’s second biggest ally — Communist Party of India (CPI) — on Tuesday slammed Chief Secretary Tom Jose for his article in a leading English daily that appeared in Tuesday’s newspaper where he said that in the state now “It is like war: Kill or be killed”.
He was referring to the shooting down of four Maoists in the forests inside Palakkad district by the Thunderbolt wing of the Police last month and defended the act.
Jose wrote that there is no justification in the argument that the Maoists who walk around with automatic weapons and spread the politics of hatred against the establishment are our brethren.
The first to slam Jose was CPI Assistant Secretary Prakash Babu who told the media that this article by the Chief Secretary was procedurally wrong.
“The Assembly is in session and how can he give such irresponsible statements. Kerala is not ruled by the Chief Secretary and if he thinks that the Chief Secretary is above the government, then he is mistaken. Wish to know who gave him the authority to write this,” asked Babu.
State Congress President Mullapally Ramachandran said it’s shocking to see this and one wonders if the Chief Secretary is ruling the state.
“This is not acceptable at all. What is the Chief Minister doing and what’s his response on this,” asked Ramachandran.
Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala raised this issue in the state Assembly and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he is yet to see what the article was about, hence, he cannot make any comment.