Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has approved the Kerala cabinet’s recommendation to appoint retired district judge N Seshadrinathan as the State Election Commissioner for local bodies. The Governor signed the file for Seshadrinathan’s appointment digitally despite being out of the station.

Incidentally, the move to appoint Seshadrinathan as SEC had invited severe opposition from even within the ruling front, citing his alleged links with the Sangh Parivar.

With only a notification remaining for the appointment to take effect, the dispute within the ruling UDF over the issue has taken a new turn. It was KPCC general secretary P M Niyaz who initially came out publicly against the Cabinet's decision to appoint Seshadrinathan.

As per Niyaz, appointing Seshadrinathan to the post would have serious consequences, as he had close connections with Sangh Parivar organisations. Niyaz, who submitted letters explaining his position to the Congress party and the government, also personally met Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC president and Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph. During his meeting with Chennithala, Niyaz urged the Home Minister to investigate Seshadrinathan's deletion of social media posts favouring the Sangh Parivar.

“The UDF will have to pay a heavy price for this appointment. I had registered my protest against the move much earlier. Seshadrinathan has always opposed the Congress. The present government took over after a multitude of UDF workers sweated it out. I am not demanding that Seshadrinathan should join the Congress, but opposing his political leaning,” said Niyaz.

Meanwhile, sources said that AICC general secretary Deepa Dasmunshi discussed the issue with Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday. The Indian Union Muslim League, which holds the local bodies portfolio, is also uneasy over the developments. However, any options available to those opposing the appointment have been blocked by the Governor signing the order.

Niyaz is known to be a supporter of AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, and Satheesan is unhappy over the former making the issue public without taking it up directly with him. Satheesan has reportedly not allowed Niyaz to meet him.

Minister for Local Self-Government K M Shaji’s criticism and Niyaz’s statement that true devotees and Sangh supporters could be differentiated aggravated the issue. The Governor took his decision even as the Congress and the Muslim League were about to discuss the matter.

The Muslim League has also been dissatisfied over issues such as PM Shri in the General Education Department and the BJP-led Centre's logo on houses built under the PMAY Scheme. The Chief Minister is likely to explain his position on these matters at a news meet on Thursday. Earlier, Satheesan had taken the initiative to reverse the decision to appoint a lawyer who had represented Smart Creations, a firm facing charges in the Sabarimala gold theft case, as the advocate for the Travancore Devaswom Board.

However, the Chief Minister has yet to indicate that he would take a similar stand regarding Seshadrinathan. Curiously, no political leader has publicly supported Niyaz.