Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 4 (IANS) Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan appears determined to show that occupying the top post does not have to come with a long convoy, a large security ring and a wall between the Chief Minister and the public he serves.
In a series of decisions since taking office, Chief Minister Satheesan has been quietly dismantling several trappings of power associated with his predecessor, Pinarayi Vijayan.
The latest is his decision to withdraw the 16 Kerala Police personnel, two drivers and vehicles permanently stationed at Kerala House in Delhi for the Chief Minister’s security.
The special deployment, introduced during Vijayan’s tenure, has now been scrapped.
Chief Minister Satheesan has made it clear that he does not need a separate police team or additional vehicles during his Delhi visits. The personnel will return to Kerala and be assigned regular duties.
This follows his first major signal on VIP culture. Soon after taking office, he cut down the nearly dozen vehicle convoy used by Vijayan.
The move brought immediate relief to motorists and local residents who often had to wait for roads to be cleared for the former Chief Minister’s passage.
Chief Minister Satheesan also restored the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, which had been discontinued during Vijayan’s tenure.
More importantly, he has made himself available to questions from journalists, a welcome change from the tightly controlled media interactions of the previous government.
Another decision was to put the brakes on proposed repair and maintenance work at Cliff House, the official residence of the Chief Minister, which involved substantial expenditure.
Chief Minister Satheesan had also made an interesting promise at an earlier media briefing.
He said he would be perhaps the only Chief Minister to travel by air without even a single assistant accompanying him.
The contrast is becoming difficult to miss.
While Vijayan’s public appearances were marked by an elaborate convoy and a tightly managed security arrangement, Chief Minister Satheesan appears keen to travel light, both literally and administratively.
None of this means that the Chief Minister will do away with essential security or official protocol.
The latest Delhi decision, for instance, only ends the additional permanent deployment of Kerala Police personnel.
Security through the existing official arrangements will continue.
But the message is clear. Chief Minister Satheesan wants fewer vehicles on the road, fewer people around him and more questions coming his way.
For the Chief Minister, travelling light may well be the beginning of a different political journey.
–IANS
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