Vijayan govt has funds only for political favourites claims Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 10 (PTI) Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday alleged that the Pinarayi Vijayan government has funds "to lavish on political favourites" while women CPO candidates who are on the rank list are being denied appointments.
    Terming the situation as "ironic", Chandrasekhar, in a Facebook post, claimed that the state government was continuing with its "usual pattern" of turning its back on the protests.
    He was referring to the protest being held outside the Secretariat here for the last nine days by several women, who are rank holders for the post of women Civil Police Officer (CPO) but have not yet received their appointment orders. They have been protesting as their rank list will expire on April 19.
    "On one hand, ASHA workers and Anganwadi staff stand firm in their ongoing struggle, demanding fair treatment and wages. Meanwhile, the protest by the women CPO candidates has entered its second week.
    "With the women CPO rank list set to expire on April 19, it's regrettable that the government has not even been willing to hold a discussion with the protestors," Chandrasekhar said.
    The former union minister claimed that the male CPO rank-listed candidates were also sidelined under similar circumstances about a year ago.
    "While the government turns a blind eye to legitimate demands, the people are watching, and they will respond when the time comes. What we need is not favoritism but a #ViksitKeralam. And for that, political change in the state is inevitable," the BJP state president said in his FB post.
    He, in a separate Facebook post, also termed as lies the CM's statements at a press conference here a day ago about the Munambam issue.
    Chandrasekhar said that Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, will on April 15, at Munambam, answer all the alleged lies of the CM on the issue.
    "Don't deceive the people of Munambam by telling lies upon lies. Instead, the state government should urgently restore the revenue rights of the residents of Munambam. The people want a developed Kerala, not the politics of lies," he said.
    The residents, who are mostly Christians, of Munambam village in Ernakulam district have been agitating for the past several months, alleging that the Waqf Board is unlawfully claiming their land and properties, despite them having registered deeds and land tax payment receipts.
    Vijayan, at the press conference, had said that the amended Waqf Act was not the solution to the issues being faced by the residents of Munambam village and claimed that the BJP was connecting the two to create "a smokescreen for making political gains".
    He had also said that Rijiju, while tabling the Waqf Amendment Bill, had made it clear that it has no retrospective effect.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)