Kerala Congress leader P C Thomas is in no mood to give up. He has shot off a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself on May 25 complaining that the Cantonment Police in Thiruvananthapuram had failed to initiate action against the Chief Minister and other LDF leaders for violating COVID-19 protocols.
Quite in keeping with Pinarayi's governance style, Thomas got an immediate reply. "I got a message from the chief minister saying that the petition has been received and has been sent to the Police Chief for further action," Thomas said in a video message.
Thomas had filed a petition before the Cantonment Police Station on May 17 against the chief minister for cutting a cake with LDF leaders violating the norms of a 'triple lockdown' that was in force in Thiruvananthapuram then. Earlier that day, at the CPM headquarters AKG Bhavan, the chief minister and 22 top LDF leaders had gathered to celebrate the LDF's historic win.
A picture of the Chief Minister cutting a large cake and the LDF leaders pressing close to him inside a small room had set off questions of propriety. It was widely asked how political leaders could violate COVID-19 protocols when the common man was asked to suffer harsh restrictions. Thomas, too, had expressed similar sentiments in the petition he had filed before the police on May 17.
Thomas had even called it "illegal". "Their act was a punishable offence under various sections of the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Act and the Indian Penal Code besides the violation of the guidelines of the Centre and the Constitutional norms," Thomas claimed.
Besides, Thomas said Pinarayi, the MLAs and Ministers, who took part in the celebration, violated the oath of office under the Third Schedule of the Constitution and so became disqualified to hold such positions now.
He also touched upon the hypocrisy involved. "The chief minister, in his daily press briefings, used to tell people about the necessity to follow the protocol to check the spread of the pandemic. The same person has now violated all the guidelines. The visuals of the celebration aired by TV channels are a proof for this," Thomas said.
Thomas, who was earlier with the BJP-led NDA, merged his Kerala Congress with the P J Joseph faction before the Assembly polls, and is now part of the UDF. Thomas, who helped the NDA register its first electoral victory in Kerala by winning the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from then Muvattupuzha seat, quit the BJP-led alliance alleging that his party was neglected by the front when the seats were allocated.