I was the first one to demand Thiruvananthapuram mayor's resignation, says Shashi Tharoor
Nov 24, 2022
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], November 24 ; Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that he was the first one to ask for the resignation of Thiruvananthapuram's mayor over the alleged appointment letter row in the Municipal Corporation.
"I was the first one to ask for it (Thiruvananthapuram Mayor's resignation) on November 7," said Congress MP Tharoor while speaking to the media outside the Corporation, where Congress Councillors have been staging an indefinite strike demanding the resignation of Mayor Arya Rajendran.
The senior Congress leader Tharoor further explaining his stand and joining the protest on Thursday, said that the reason he did so was that he wanted to remind people of a few things.
"One that unemployment is the biggest problem faced by our country, every job that is paid for by the taxpayers' money. Whether it's temporary or permanent, it should be open and freely available to every citizen of Kerala. And yet there was a letter asking for the party to nominate a candidate. This is a betrayal to the youth of Kerala," he said.
"Second that there is an oath of office sworn by the Mayor or any other constitutional office holder that requires to be fair to all the citizens. They have no right to restrict the benefits to their own party members," Tharoor said.
"The third reason for me to join this protest is the police brutality that has followed. We have a situation where 14 youth Congress activists and 4 Kerala student activists have been in jail for 18 days. Two youth Congress members are in hospital. Member of parliament and leader of Mahila Congress was also beaten so badly," he claimed.
These are the methods that are disgraceful. It's such a shameful act of the Communist party and betraying the youth of Kerala, he said.
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran had allegedly written to CPI(M) district secretary and demanded a priority list for appointing party members to 295 temporary posts in the municipal corporation.
