‘No merit in arguments over Shailaja’s exclusion’

‘No merit in arguments over Shailaja’s exclusion’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thiruvananthapuram:21.05.2021

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury here on Thursday said there was no merit in the arguments that K K Shailaja was excluded from the second Pinarayi government for any ulterior reasons.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the new government’s swearing-in ceremony, Yechury said the decision to induct all new faces into the new cabinet was the outcome of a principled stand taken by the CPM in Kerala.

Selection of candidates for ministerial berth is the prerogative of the respective state committees.

“They are the matters within the domain of the respective state committees. And that is the party structure. So, we have taken a principled decision and that decision I think would be good for the long-term interest, not only for the CPM and LDF, but also for the state of Kerala,” he said.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the CPM collectively took all decisions regarding the government formation. He also turned down the reports that the central leadership was upset over the decision to drop Shailaja from the cabinet, despite her sterling performance as health minister in the first Pinarayi government.

CPM leaders claimed that the party decision to deny seats to all those had contested two elections consecutively and to drop all former ministers from the first Pinarayi government were taken to rejuvenate the party and nip the possibilities of certain leaders emerging as power centres.

A similar drastic change in the CPM’s organizational positions is also on the anvil is what they claims.