Ajin, a CPM councillor in the Tiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation (File Photo)
The Keralam government has ordered a vigilance inquiry against Ajin, a CPM councillor in the Tiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, based on a complaint lodged by Congress councillor K.S. Sabareenat over bribery charges.
Ajin is alleged to have given possession of 14 cents to a private individual illegally. He is alleged to have received bribes for this illegal transaction. A video claimed to be linked to it also leaked, hence the government ordered the vigilance inquiry.
According to the court verdict, Tiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation is the actual owner of the land.
Earlier, CPM councillor was caught on camera while demanding Rs 10 lakhs from a young builder, Sanju, who purchased a plot of land in Trikkannapuram Ward, which Ajin represents in the corporation. The visuals and their audio went viral on social media.
The BJP has been staging widespread protests against Ajin since the video surfaced on social media. Yuva Morcha and Mahila Morcha have also been carrying out marches to Ajin’s councillor office, demanding his immediate resignation. Police used water cannons against the protesters on October 8.
Reacting to the video, BJP Kerala President Rajeev Chandrashekar said on X that CPM ward councillor Ajin S. of Thrikkannapuram had been caught on camera demanding Rs 10 lakh from a citizen and threatening him if the money was not paid.
“This is the true face of the Congress/CPM’s politics of corruption and extortion. After 45 years of corruption, negligence and malgovernance, the people of Thiruvananthapuram rejected that politics. They gave a historic mandate to the BJP/NDA to govern this Corporation, and elected two BJP/NDA MLAs to deliver clean, development-focused governance,” he said.
He further said, “When it comes to malgovernance, protecting the corrupt and exploiting the people of Keralam, the Congress and the CPM are not two, but one. Randalla, Onnanu. We want VikasitaThiruvananthapuram. There is no place for this kind of councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. I request Mayor VV Rajesh to place this before the Council immediately and lead a full debate. The footage must be examined. Accountability cannot wait.”
The Home Department has ordered the vigilance case based on private individuals’ complaints also.
The visuals show Ajin asking Sanju to give him Rs 10 lakhs and also threatening him that he would get DYFI men to erect party flags on the builder’s land if he does not give the money. The video was released by the complainant.
The builder Sanju had purchased 19 cents of land adjacent to the MLA road in Trikkannapuram Ward. He was selling off the land piece by piece. Sanju said that as soon as he sold off the first two plots, Ajin came to intervene. He told Sanju that the land he purchased included purambokku land, meaning unassessed no-man’s land or government land. He would help him regularise it and facilitate the sale if he gave him Rs 10 lakhs.
Sanju alleged that some local CPM leaders came to his house and told him to keep Ajin in good humour by giving him Rs 5 lakhs, because inviting Ajin’s wrath is not good for Sanju.
Consequently, he went to see Ajin at night as he was asked to do so. Sanju said that he videographed Ajin’s threat during that meeting; Ajin said that Sanju would get a huge amount of money when he sold the land, hence he (Ajin) wanted a portion of it. Otherwise, he would get DYFI men to erect the party flags on the land. If he did not oblige, the matter would be complicated.
He threatened that he would stop the construction by raising the issue of the canal and drain in the purambokku land.
Accordingly, Sanju complained to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
Meanwhile, Ajin came out with a strange argument that the video is AI-made.
The incident underlines the corrupt practice of the CPM councillor.
The BJP had been exposing the corruption of the CPM councillors and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule in the corporation for the past 45 years.
After coming to power, Mayor V.V. Rajesh and the BJP rule in the corporation have been exposing, one by one, the CPM and LDF corruption during their rule.
