4 days ago
Deputy Mayor inaugurates renovated Aristo Road amid LDF boycott
The inauguration of the renovated Aristo Road turned controversial on Wednesday after Deputy Mayor M.L. Rosy went ahead with the function despite a boycott by Mayor M.K. Varghese and key members of the ruling LDF council.
Though the LDF leadership, including the Mayor and Standing Committee Chairman Varghese Kandamkulathy, abstained from the event, the Deputy Mayor delivered the inaugural address and symbolically opened the newly completed road .
In her speech, Ms. Rosy hit out at the politicisation of development work, stating that infrastructure projects should not become battlegrounds for party politics. She credited councillors Leela Varghese and Sindhu Anto Chacko for their sincere efforts in making the Aristo Road a reality, noting that multiple protests had been carried out both inside and outside the council to push the project forward. She further alleged that the Mayor's office is being run by temporary staff.
Opposition leader Rajan J. Pallan accused the LDF of deliberately trying to hijack the inauguration and turn it into an LDF-only event, sidelining the efforts of other councillors. He claimed that Ms. Varghese and Ms. Chacko had informed the Mayor about the inauguration schedule and had officially handed over the event notice at his chamber.
