Kerala Lokayukta asks minister KT Jaleel to resign for appointing cousin as govt body head

In a setback for Kerala minority affairs minister KT Jaleel on Friday, the Lokayukta has asked him to step down as a cabinet minister for appointing his second cousin to head a government body. The Lokayukta has pulled up Jaleel for appointing his second cousin K.T. Adeeb as general manager of the Kerala State Minority Development Finance Corporation (KSMDFC) in 2018. A complaint was filed by V.K. Muhammad Shafi, a public interest litigant from Malappuram district.    

Lokayukta asks KT Jaleel to step down

As per reports, earlier in February, Jaleel's name was mired in controversy after he allegedly intervened in an unauthorised appointment of a teacher in  St Xavier’s College in Thiruvananthapuram. Jaleel allegedly directed the Vice-Chancellor of the university to appoint Fr Dr V Y Dasappan, who is the Latin teacher and principal of Thumba St Xavier’s College, as an English teacher, as per local reports. However, the University rejected Jaleel's request stating that UGC rules do not allow changing a teacher from the subject department in which he/she was appointed first.

Kerala poll battle

While Congress has allied with Left in Bengal, in Kerala, the Congress-led UDF is the main contender to the Left-led LDF. Kicking off its 'Aishwarya Kerala Yatra', Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has vowed to bring legislation to protect the rights of the Ayyappa devotees when the UDF is voted to power. Rahul Gandhi has also visited the state multiple times, campaigning for UDF, amid massive revolt over ticket allocation. Congress has repeatedly called for CM Pinarayi Vijayan's resignation over a host of issues - Gold smuggling probe, Sandalwood probe, COVID handling, Sabarimala issue, Sprinklr row, Police social media order etc. Sadly, it has also seen several key leaders' exit including veteran PC Chacko due to 'internal factionalism'.

On the other hand, Kerala BJP pushed "Metro Man" E Sreedharan as its CM face after Sreedharan officially joined BJP in the presence of Union Minister RK Singh at Changaramkulam's 'Vijaya Yatra' on February 25. While BJP's core committee has not announced him as CM pick, PM Narendra Modi held a rally in Palakkad canvassing votes for Sreedharan. BJP has been making a big push for Kerala, urging voters to give BJP a chance instead of the consecutive UDF & LDF regimes. Polls were held across all 140 seats on April 6 and results will be announced on May 2.