Thiruvananthapuram: A day after a CPI-M lawmaker's son was appointed the Managing Director of a state-run public sector undertaking, it announced on Thursday that the appointment had been cancelled.
The BJP had questioned the appointment of P.K. Sudhir, son of former minister and present Communist Party of India-Marxist Lok Sabha member P.K. Sreemathy, accusing the Kerala government of nepotism.
Sudhir, a chief executive of a company (company name not given), had requested for time to join the new post, but it was not sanctioned and hence the order to appoint him to the Kerala State Industrial Enterprise (KSIE) was cancelled, a KSIE release said.
KSIE was set up in 1973 as the Kerala government's holding company to revive and nurse sick units under the Industries Department and now the custodian of the air cargo complex at the three international airports in the southern state.
Sudhir is also the nephew of state Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan. KSIE functions under the Industries Department.
Asked to comment on the matter, Jayarajan said: "No complaints have been received on the appointment. If there is any, it will be looked into."
Sudhir, who is said to have no experience of working on a senior position in any government organisation, was supposed to replace senior IAS officer M. Beena.
Former state BJP President V. Muraleedharan on Thursday said: "This is nothing but nepotism and abuse of power. Moreover, I approached the Vigilance Department with a complaint against him (Sudhir) about his deals when Sreemathy was the Health Minister during 2006-11 and about his other business dealings."
Muraleedharan said the revocation clearly showed it was a back-door appointment.
"Would they cancel the order if the appointment was proper," he asked.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government had earlier announced that the appointments to key posts in various public sector undertakings would be transparent and on merit only.
Meanwhile, reports said the state government had appointed half a dozen close relatives of top CPI-M leaders to similar posts.