Thiruvananthapuram : The CPI(M), Kerala’s ruling party, began its siege to the Raj Bhavan at Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday demanding the ouster of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan from . According to M V Govindan, the primary school drill master-turned-polit bureau member of the party, more than a lakh people have arrived in front of Raj Bhavan to serve an ultimatum to the Governor, whom the former accused of saffronizing Kerala’s higher education sector.
Since early morning, luxury buses, have been ferrying hundreds of people to the Raj Bhavan premises to make the event a great show. All leaders of the constituent units of the LDF led by the CPI(M) have assembled in front of the Raj Bhavan though most of them were seen with grim faces.
The CPI(M) has given ultimatum to the leaders of the constituent parties either to join the demonstration or get perished. Kadannappalli Ramachandran, leader of the Congress (S) who is the lone MLA of the party and who is struggling to get into the council of ministers is sitting along with other ministerial hopefuls with the sole intention to propitiate Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister and the supreme commander of the CPI(M).
Kanam Rajendran, the CPI State Secretary who is an acolyte of Vijayan too is sitting in the scorching sunlight in front of the Raj Bhavan Gate. But chief minister Vijayan is yet to join the demonstration.
Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the CPI(M), whom Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described as the general secretary of the Indian National Congress will inaugurate the siege programme in the next one hour. CPI(M) cadre claims Governor Arif Mohammed Khan left Raj Bhavan and reached New Delhi when he came to know about the party’s laying in siege to the Raj Bhavan.
“This is the beginning of the end of the BJP-RSS rule in India. Their Saffronization drive will come to an end by May 2024,” said Govindan, who is also the Kerala Secretary of the CPI(M).
The Kerala High Court verdict on Monday that unseated the vice-chancellor of the KUFOS has not dampened the spirits of the party cadre though the constituents like Congress(S) and Kerala Congress (Mani) find themselves caught between the devil and deep sea syndrome.
The CPI(M) has succeeded in bringing thousands of daily wage earners of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme to stage the siege in front of Raj Bhavan. They are being portrayed as academicians and ideologists.
Meanwhile, race for s of nine vice-chancellors have begun in the CPI(M) based on caste, community and religion. Though the appointment is based on the regulations announced by the the UGC, the party cadre and fellow travellers are of the view that the Vijayan-Govindan duo would ensure their appointments despite their failure in meeting the qualifications prescribed by the UGC. Those in the race of the vice-chancellorship include well known plagiarists Sunil Elayidam, Deepa Nishanth and Thomas Issac (former finance minister of Kerala). Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajkendran’s name too is being heard as a claimant.