Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has decided to intervene in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation recruitment letter controversy.
The Local Self-Government Department has called all protesting parties for a meeting at 5 pm on Monday. The discussion will be held at the Layam Hall of the Secretariat. Minister M B Rajesh sent a letter to the district presidents of the Congress and BJP, inviting them for the discussion.
The controversy is about a letter purportedly written by Mayor Arya Rajendran to CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan, seeking a list of party members as candidates for the 295 temporary vacancies in the Corporation.
The Mayor has denied that she wrote, signed or sent any such letter and claimed that it appeared to be “edited”. She has also said that she suspects it to be politically motivated and also brushed aside demands for her resignation by the opposition Congress and BJP.
The other day, Vigilance submitted a preliminary report, stating that since no appointments had been made in the corporation on the basis of the purported letter written by the mayor and the government had not suffered any loss, the investigation would not come under its purview. The Vigilance also recommended a police investigation and said it was winding up the inquiry into the issue on these grounds.
As per the report, the original letter could not be traced and the mayor made a statement saying she had not written such a letter. It also says that on the day the letter was signed, the Mayor was not in the city.
Only if the original letter is found and the signature on it is verified as authentic will the issue come under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the investigation sustain legally, the report is known to have said.
The report prepared by the Special Investigation Unit will be handed over to Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham and the High Court soon.