Madurai Corporation Commissioner relieved of duty for ordering to maintain RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s scheduled routes clean

On Thursday, the Assistant Commissioner of Madurai Corporation was relieved of duty for ordering to repair roads and streets lights, as well as keeping the road clean during the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagavat visit to Madurai.

Hours after a circular sent by the Zonal Assistant Commissioner of Madurai Corporation, S Shanmugam, asking staff to maintain RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s scheduled routes clean appeared on social media, he was shunted out.

As per a circular released by Shanmugam on July 20, the RSS chief was slated to attend events at the Saibaba temple in Zone 4’s Sathya Sai Nagar between July 22 and 26. All zonal officials were asked by Shanmugam to repair street lights and damaged roads along the RSS chief’s route from the airport. During the planned time, he also ordered that all other civic activity, including road renovation, be halted across the four zones.

The internal communication circular went viral after Madurai MP Su Venkatesan demanded an explanation from the Madurai Corporation and the district administration on Twitter. He asked as to which government rule such an order had been issued.

Manickam Tagore, a Member of Parliament from Virudhunagar, also criticized the civic body for foisting a red carpet welcome on an RSS leader at taxpayer money. Several leftist and Dravidian organizations have also requested that the official be punished immediately.

Corporation Commissioner KP Karthikeyan clarified that as part of the Z Plus protectee protocol, only routine arrangements were made and no extra maintenance work was done. The Corporation Chief released a statement hours after the circular went viral, ordering the Assistant Commissioner to be relieved of duty. “The assistant commissioner has been asked to explain why he issued a circular without the consent of senior officials,” he said.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.