Former Director General of Police R. Sreelekha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Sasthamangalam ward in Thiruvananthapuram, engaged Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district secretary, V. Joy, MLA, in a seemingly light-hearted political tit-for-tat.
Mr. Joy had recently taken a dig at Ms. Sreelekha’s candidacy, musing openly on the usefulness of a “former top-ranking officer who spent most of her official life shielded by police officers” obligated to respond to ward-level civic exigencies, such as “disposing of a dead stray”.
The CPI(M) legislator from Varkala suggested that top officers who spent the better part of their working lives in the ivory tower of bureaucracy were ill-suited to understand and respond to the travails and tribulations of ordinary persons.
Ms. Sreelekha attributed Mr. Joy’s remark to “fear of failure at the hustings”.
She disputed the CPI(M)’s insinuation that she was far removed from the issues plaguing ordinary families.
