B Ashok, who earned the wrath of the unions by accusing them of misusing power, has been shunted to the Agriculture Department.
Published Jul 15, 2022 | 11:35 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 26, 2022 | 2:24 PM
The KSEB headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. (Creative Commons)
Just six months after he put Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in a spot by openly accusing trade unions affiliated to the ruling CPI(M) of misusing their power, senior IAS officer B Ashok was on Thursday, 14 July, shunted out as chairperson of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
Former health secretary Rajan Khobragade has been named to replace Ashok as the chairperson.
Ashok, meanwhile, will now work with the Agriculture Department as principal secretary.
Trade unions affiliated with the CPI(M) and the CPI have been demanding his ouster from the KSEB since 14 February, when he put up a scathing Facebook post.
In the post, he accused the trade unions of misusing their power by handing over board-owned land to different cooperative societies with questionable credentials in the name of tourism development.
This soon became a political issue, with former electricity minister and top CPI(M) leader MM Mani chiding Ashok.
Ousted KSEB Chairman B Ashok (Creative Commons)
On his part, Ashok transferred some key trade union leaders from the KSEB’s headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram to faraway destinations.
The KSEB subsequently witnessed an intense agitation as most employees went against the chairperson.
Though a temporary truce emerged in April and the transferred officials returned to the headquarters, pressure mounted on the state government to remove Ashok from the post.
Janata Dal (Secular) leader K Krishnankutty currently holds the electricity portfolio in the LDF government and Ashok is known as his close confidant.
It was his clout with the minister that had saved his chair so far, several KSEB watchers believe.
Several of Ashok’s decisions, including making yoga training compulsory for KSEB officials, also invited the wrath of trade unions.
His demand for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter invited stiff resistance from the ruling then ruling United Democratic Front and the Opposition LDF.
Ashok’s revelation about the transfer of KSEB-owned being transferred provoked Mani to reveal that 21 acres of land belonging to KSEB’s Kerala Hydel Tourism Centre in Idukki district were leased out in 2019 to Rajakkad Service Cooperative Bank run by CPI(M), flouting norms.
A major controversy broke out when the opposition UDF found that the bank was headed by Mani’s son-in-law B Kunjumon.
A subsequent inquiry found that the land was handed over without the approval of the revenue department. The whole process remains cancelled now.
Certain other public remarks by Ashok also punctured the LDF claim that the board had functioned at its best when Mani was the minister.
He pointed out many problems pertaining to that period and remarked that there was no golden age in the history of the board.
