Indian Youth Congress activists stage a protest in opposition to Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran on April 30, 2024, over a misbehaviour grievance lodged by her in opposition to the driving force of a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Arya Rajendran, 25, arguably Thiruvananthapuram’s youngest Mayor, has discovered herself in a spot after she got embroiled in a road rage incident with a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus driver.
Grainy site visitors digital camera footage broadcast by tv channels confirmed Ms. Rajendran and her CPI(M) compatriot and husband, Ok.M. Sachin Dev, MLA, heading off a KSRTC bus with their automotive in town on April 26 night and questioning the driving force, H.L. Yadhu, for unruly road behaviour.
The footage confirmed the automotive parked on the zebra crossing in entrance of the bus because the site visitors gentle above blinked inexperienced.
The police later arrested Mr. Yadhu for making obscene gestures on the Mayor and her household. The KSRTC benched him.
However, the police controversially refused to register Mr. Yadhu’s grievance that Ms. Rajendran, Mr. Dev, and two different co-passengers had interrupted his journey and violated site visitors guidelines. Mr. Yadhu additionally alleged that Mr. Dev had boarded the bus and ordered the passengers out.
Memory card lacking
The police stated the whole image of the incident remained elusive. The reminiscence card of the onboard digital camera was mysteriously lacking. The police weren’t ruling out a potential cover-up or destruction of proof. Investigators have been monitoring down passengers to report their statements.
The incident rapidly gained social and mainstream media traction and have become a political scorching potato for the CPI(M).
Mr. Yadhu turned a magnet for tv information crews. He appeared to amass an on the spot celeb standing, feted by some sections of the media as an bizarre one that misplaced his livelihood for standing as much as political imperiousness.
The Congress and the BJP portrayed the incident as emblematic of the CPI(M) management’s entitlement mentality.
They disrupted the Corporation Council assembly, accusing Ms. Rajendran of disregarding due course of and resorting to vigilantism.
A distraught Ms. Rajendran stated she was the sufferer of misogyny, and the expertise was frequent to different working girls.
Opposition employees lampooned Ms. Rajendran. They raised hoardings declaring the road in entrance of the Mayor’s workplace a no-parking zone. Counsellors caught posters on passing KSRTC buses, cautioning them in opposition to not giving the right-of-way to the Mayor’s automotive.
The controversy’s echoes confirmed little indicators of abating on Wednesday, and the political tit-for-tats appeared poised to proceed till the police investigation reached a finality. Meanwhile, the CPI(M) and the DYFI have backed Ms. Rajendran.