LDF government's transfer of TVM Corp secretary Jahamgeer offends BJP Council

Thiruvananthapuram: The transfer of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation secretary Jahamgeer S, right in the middle of the transition from an LDF-ruled Council to a BJP-ruled one, has given the freshly sworn in BJP-led Council a sudden jolt. The BJP believes that this is a deliberate move by the LDF government to unsettle the new Council. 

A delegation led by Mayor VV Rajesh is planning to meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to express the Council's disapproval and also ask for the reversal of the move to transfer Jahamgeer. "I don't know whether the decision could be overturned, but the CM is the only person who can do anything about it," said MR Gopan, the BJP's Nemom councillor and the Corporation's Health Standing Committee chairman.

Jahamgeer has been posted as joint director in the Principal Directorate, Local Self Government Department. The new secretary, KU Bini, will take charge on February 2.

"This is a very crucial period for the Corporation. The Budget is being restructured, and the projects are being revised. The Corporation secretary, who is the link between the last Council and this, cannot be transferred at this moment. His continuance is essential for the smooth transition of the administration," Gopan said.

The secretary, a state government nominee, is the corporation's chief executive officer and responsible for its day-to-day operations. It is the secretary who implements the resolutions of the Council and the standing committees.

As proof of the haste shown to redeploy Jahamgeer, BJP leaders point to the incumbent's short tenure. "One year and eight months". The last secretary, Binu Francis, served for three-and-a-half years. 

The LDF government, however, is at least legally on a sound footing. The Kerala Municipality Act does not give the secretary a fixed term. Section 48(6) of the Act says that the "Government may, at any time, transfer the Secretary, from a Municipality".

The Act also gives the Council the Power to recommend the removal of the secretary by moving a resolution at the Council and securing a simple majority. The state government has to oblige. 

But there is no mechanism in the Act to call back a secretary transferred by the state government.