Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode: Kerala’s Transport Commissioner Tomin J Thachankary, who played music before he turned to civil services, has never faced music before, literally. But Thachankary who has never played second fiddle to anyone other than a few chosen leaders of CPM, may have to face music if his Department Minister A K Saseendran can prevail upon Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Saseendran, Transport Minister in the Kerala cabinet has asked the chief minister to remove him from the post of Transport Commissioner for acting imperiously in departmental matters, bypassing the Minister.
Thachankary, a senior IPS officer, had recently created a controversy by an official circular to all the staff members in the Transport Department across the state to celebrate his birthday by distributing sweets. The circular had also been noted for its boastful tone as it listed the achievements under Thachankary’s reign.
Minister Saseendran who was unhappy with the officer for other reasons, took it up with the Chief Minister and Chief secretary.
The minister and his party NCP took a firm stand that the transport ministry did not need the services of an imperious oficer.
Meanwhile, Thachankary who sensed trouble, expressed regret over his action at a public meeting in Kozhikode on Wednesday which was also attended by Minister Saseendran. The public expression of regret is considered more as an attempt to defuse the tension than as an apology.
The Kerala Cabinet which meets on Friday is expected to discuss Thachankary’s highhandedness and the minister’s demand for his removal.
But political watchers say that Thachankary’s ratings will never come down, thanks to his proximity with the top CPM leaders.
The man who won the hearts of western music students in Kerala in the 1980s with his popular booklet in Malayalam, ‘How to learn Guitar’, may strike the right chord in the hearts of his political bosses too.
