CM Pinarayi Vijayan asserts authority as Opposition questions it

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan served a warning to government officials on Wednesday. “Any officer who refuses to listen to the government will not remain an officer,” he said in the Assembly, while responding to the adjournment motion seeking M. M. Mani’s removal from the cabinet. Mr Vijayan seems to have been provoked by Congress leader V. D. Satheesan, who had moved the motion. “Tell me which official will obey you after what you have done to demoralise them,” Satheesan asked. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, too, said that the chief minister had lost his authority.

“It is amazing that the chief minister had no idea that CrPC 144 was clamped in Munnar. If you had not known it, you are not fit to be in this place,” Chennithala said. “How can the district administration impose curfew without informing the police. You should not have allowed it,” Mr Chennithala added. Mr Satheesan further said that the chief minister was bound to defend the government decision. “Instead, the chief minister has given directions that evictions in Munnar should be carried out only with the permission of M. M. Mani,” he said. The Chief Minister said that he had not opposed eviction but only the manner in which the cross was uprooted during the process. “The cross is a profound symbol for a large section of the state’s population. It should have been delicately handled,” Mr Vijayan said.