After the Kozhikode District Collector Prasanth Nair, it is the turn of Ernakulam Collector MG Rajamanickam to lock horns with political leadership in Kerala. If Nair was threatened by Congress MP MK Raghavan, Rajamanickam is facing the ire of the Communist Party of India (CPI) district secretary P Raju.
Raju has warned to slap defamation case against Rajamanickam over the latter's alleged statement that the CPI leader demanded him to do favours to plantation company Harrisons Malayalam Limited, which is engaged in long drawn legal battle with Kerala government over possession of land.
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The other day, Raju alleged that the district administration has stopped functioning and called Rajamanickam as a corrupt officer. He also alleged that the collector had committed large-scale corruption in the controversial land deal case of Godman Santosh Madhavan and in 'Bhoomigeetham' programme. He also met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking removal of collector and a detailed investigation into the alleged irregularities. The CPI youth wing had demanded action against the Collector and held a march against him.
Though the Collector has not responded to the controversy, sources close to him said that the CPI leader is making allegations against the collector for not granting transfer officers of district collectorate as per the list given by the leader. The Collector also did not respond positively to Raju's request to provide undue privileges to Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. Rajamanickam is the survey director and special officer for recovery of the disputed land of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd.
However, Raju said that he has never mentioned the name of Harrisons in his conversations with the Collector and stated that he would quit politics if the collector proved the allegation.
