Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 (IANS) With the CPI(M) Central Committee set to meet in New Delhi later this week, all eyes are on whether the party leadership can defuse the unprecedented rebellion brewing in its once impregnable Kannur bastion, where expelled veterans continue to challenge the leadership in public.The meeting assumes added significance amid growing disquiet within the party.While the CPI(M) had earlier endorsed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and State Secretary M.V. Govindan to co…
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Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 (IANS) The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Council descended into chaos on Monday after a demand by the Opposition for the resignation of BJP councillor R. Sugathan, who is currently in judicial custody under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), triggered violent scenes, physical scuffles and unprecedented disruption of the council proceedings.The flashpoint was a dispute over the attendance register.The Left and the Congress-led UDF alleged that…
Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Monday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, seeking his urgent intervention in the reported denial of passport renewal to veteran journalist and editor R. Rajagopal, even as Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan flagged concerns over citizens’ rights.In a statement on X, Satheesan said he had requested Adhikari to personally intervene after reports that Rajagopal’s passport renewal had been held up …
Thiruvananthapuram, June 27 (IANS) The appointment of Sajitha Rani, a leader associated with a BJP-backed teachers’ organisation, as the Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has triggered a fresh political controversy, with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) alleging a systematic attempt to install ideologically aligned academics in the state’s universities. The appointment comes close on the heels of a similar controversy over the Govern…
Thiruvananthapuram, June 27 (IANS) Ignoring growing opposition from various quarters, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s government has formally moved ahead with its controversial proposal to reduce taxes on low-alcohol beverages by incorporating the provision in the draft Finance Bill, setting the stage for what is expected to be one of the biggest political confrontations of the Assembly session. The draft Bill, officially published on Saturday, will be introduced in the Assembly on July 1. While…
Thiruvananthapuram, June 27 (IANS) The CPI-M’s long-held claim that it pursued a policy of reducing liquor consumption through regulation rather than prohibition has come under renewed scrutiny, with official documents and administrative decisions from the previous LDF-led Kerala government painting a sharply different picture of its decade in power in the state. Fresh disclosures relating to the grant of bar licenses and the entry of multinational liquor giant Bacardi into Kerala’s low-alcohol …
Thiruvananthapuram, June 26 (IANS) The Congress-led UDF is weighing a no-confidence motion against the BJP administration in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, a move that could throw the state’s only BJP-led civic body into political uncertainty if the CPI-M-led LDF decides to extend support.The Corporation Council is scheduled to meet on Monday, when the opposition is expected to chalk out its strategy in the wake of the violent scenes witnessed inside the civic body earlier this week.The unp…
Thiruvananthapuram, June 25 (IANS) Veteran Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran has once again emerged as a thorn in the side of the V.D. Satheesan-led Kerala government, publicly attacking the proposed tax structure for low-alcohol beverages in the State Budget and demanding that the provision be dropped when the Finance Bill is introduced in the Assembly.A former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, Lok Sabha member, Speaker and Minister, Sudheeran has for decades built his political identit…
Thiruvananthapuram, June 24 (IANS) Seeking to quell the controversy triggered by last week’s Budget proposal on low-alcohol liquor, Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday clarified in the Assembly that the state government had only fixed the tax structure for such beverages and had not yet taken a political decision to permit their sale in the state. Replying to the Budget debate, Satheesan said the issue would be discussed within the UDF before a final call is taken.If the coalition-…
Thiruvananthapuram, June 24 (IANS) For nearly a decade, Kerala’s streets witnessed a rare phenomenon, the relative absence of large-scale agitations by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the formidable youth wing of the CPI(M) known for its ability to bring thousands onto the roads at short notice.With the Left Democratic Front firmly in power under Pinarayi Vijayan since 2016, the party’s traditional street-fighting apparatus had little reason to target the government.But on Wedne…