‘I support the party’s decision on Thiruvananthapuram Mayoral post: Ex-Kerala DGP Sreelekha

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 5 (IANS) Former Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) and Bharatiya Janata Party Councillor, R. Sreelekha, has laid all media speculations to rest that she was upset with not being made the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor, saying that she supports the party’s decision to elect V.V. Rajesh for the civic body’s Mayor post which the party won by a large victory margin recently in the civic body polls held in the state.

However, following the BJP’s historic victory, senior leader V.V. Rajesh was elected as Kerala’s first BJP Mayor.

“I support the party’s decision and will not quit or challenge the party,” Sreelekha told IANS.

The BJP wrested control of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation in the December elections, ending the 40-year rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

“I will work as a Councillor for the full five-year term and will not quit midway, as I have a responsibility towards the voters who elected me,” Sreelekha told IANS.

She also ruled out contesting the Kerala Assembly elections, despite recent indications from BJP leaders that she could be fielded from an ‘A’ category constituency as a compensation measure for not being named the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor.

Sreelekha said the party might have taken the decision after assessing that Rajesh could perform better as Mayor than her.

Speaking to reporters, Sreelekha, a state BJP Vice-President, said she had never intended to contest the election but decided to do so only after receiving assurances from party leaders that she would be appointed Mayor of the state capital.

The BJP Councillor said she was unaware of what transpired in the decision-making process for the Mayoral post after the party’s electoral victory.

Earlier, the remarks by former Kerala DGP Sreelekha regarding the Thiruvananthapuram mayoral post had triggered a political storm within the party, which is pinning high hopes on the upcoming Assembly elections in the state later this year.

snj/khz