Employees stage demonstration against Minister

RAMANATHAPURAM

Staging a demonstration in front of all the 11 panchayat union offices in Ramanathapuram district on Tuesday, the members affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Rural Development Department among others alleged that State Transport Minister R S Raja Kannappan verbally abused the Mudukalathur Municipal Commissioner Rajendran citing his caste name in the presence of a Block Development Officer Anbu Kannan and a few councillors from the DMK at the minister’s residence in Sivaganga district two days ago.

The demonstrators claimed that the Minister had reportedly summoned the Commissioner to his residence and shouted using unparliamentary language. They also said that the Minister directed to obey his orders and failure to do so would cost his job.

On Monday evening, Mr Rajendran told reporters at Mudukalathur that he was pulled up by the Minister for no fault and said that he was “very much upset” about the casteist remarks.

In a related development, three union councillors - Boopathi Mani, Shanmugam and Arumugavelu representing the DMK submitted petitions to the District Collector Shankar Lal Kumawat on Tuesday demanding action against Mr Rajendran for disobeying the Minister’s order and also disseminating false information about Mr. Raja Kannappan.

They told reporters that the Minister only told the official to execute works in a fair manner and never made any remarks of his caste and demanded a public apology from Mr. Rajendran for spreading false and malicious information about the Minister, who has been in the party and public life for over four decades.

Meanwhile, posters were pasted in many areas by the Devendrakula Vellalars, which demanded action against the Minister Raja Kannappan for abusing a government official.

In yet another development in the evening, a press release from the Raj Bhavan stated that Governor had, on the recommendations of the Chief Minister, allotted Mr. Raja Kannappan Backward Classes Welfare portfolio and allotted Transport department to S.S. Sivasankar and re-designated him as the Transport Minister.