Kochi: IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who was appointed to the post of Kerala's Alappuzha district collector last week, has been removed from the post following protests from Muslims. The Kerala government has now made the IAS officer the general manager of the Civil Supplies Corporation, succumbing to the opposition of Muslim organisations. At the same time, Venkitaraman was working as the Managing Director of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation before his transfer to Alappuzha by the Left government of Kerala.

Earlier Muslim organisations carried out protest marches across the state against the appointment of Mr Sriram Venkitaraman as the District Collector of Alappuzha. Today he has been removed—a classic example of vote bank politics. The Left has shown its true colours. 2/2

— Jayaraj Kaimal (@jrkaimalbjp) August 1, 2022

On the issue, Kerala BJP unit president Jayaraj Kaimal said, "For the first time in the history of this country, a district collector has been removed from his post only because a section of the population had opposed him. This has happened in the much-acclaimed secular Kerala. CM Pinarayi Vijayan has completely surrendered to the Islamic forces.'' The BJP leader further said, "Earlier, Muslim organisations had taken out a protest march across the state against the appointment of Sriram Venkitaraman as the district collector of Alappuzha. Today he has been removed – an excellent example of vote bank politics. The Left has shown its true colour.''

In Kerala, thousands of Muslims had taken out a march to protest against the appointment of IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman and demanded the cancellation of the appointment. The protest was organised by several Muslim organisations belonging to the Sunni group. The protest began on Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Thiruvananthapuram in front of the state secretariat and all district collectorates against the appointment of Sriram Venkitaraman, accused of the death of a journalist named KM Bashir, to the post of Alappuzha district collector. After the massive opposition from the Muslims, now the Pinarayi Vijayan government has given its knees to the front of the mobocracy. At the same time, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) had also staged a protest on Monday demanding the state government to withdraw the decision.

PM Modi enhanced India's reputation in the world- Amit Shah

No collapse in Indian rupee: Nirmala Sitharaman

Third case of monkeypox in Delhi, Nigerian youth found infected