Pon Radhakrishnan, MoS finance minister at the Modi Government centre, didn’t have imagined what is store for him when he reached the Nilakkal base camp near the temple with a group of BJP activists on Wednesday
As his private vehicle reached Sabarimala temple which is in the middle of a huge row over the entry of women, the policemen stopped him who leading the team was Yatish Chandra, the 2011 batch Indian Police Service officer
In a video of their face-off that has been widely circulated, the minister is seen asking Chandra why private vehicles are not allowed.
Chandra, the Thrissur district police chief, says, “I’ll explain it to you, due to recent floods…” The minister cut him short. “I know that.”
But Chandra wasn’t having it. “Can you please listen to me?” he asks the minister.
And he has his say The IPA officer explains that there are complications with parking closer to the temple as the grounds near the Sabarimala temple were washed away after the recent floods. This has led to the risk of landslides in the area.
“But why are private vehicle not allowed to enter when government buses are?” the minister retorts.
When he is unable to get through to the minister, Chandra offers to let the private vehicles pass on one condition. “Are you willing to take responsibility?” the officer, who trained as a electrical engineer before joining the police, asks.
The minister quickly makes it clear that he didn’t want to “take responsibility”.
“That is the thing here, no one wants to take responsibility,” Chandra says, a broad smile on his face.
A BJP leader standing next to Radhakrishnan loses his calm and starts yelling at Chandra for addressing the minister in such a tone. The confrontation continues for some more time before the minister’s supporters get the message and back off.
Not so long ago, Chandra had arrested BJP general secretary K Surendran and Hindu Aikya Vedi chief KP Sasikala, who are believed to have fanned protests over the entry of women into Sabarimala. They were trying to enter the shrine.
Asked, Chandra insists he doesn’t have an agenda.
“We are only doing our duty, without favouring or hurting any political party. Our aim is to make Sabarimala a peaceful space, a safe place for all devotees. We do not have any agenda,” he told media
On the charges of BJP members that he try to appease Ruling Left benches in kerala The IPS officer politely replied “Basically, I am here to execute the orders of the democratically elected government,” he said. That has got him on the wrong side of Pinarayi Vijayan, now chief minister, when he was in the opposition.
Not to forget It was Vijayan who had called him a “street thug” and veteran communist leader VS Achuthanandan had likened to a “mad dog”.
Now RSS BJP elements use all unparliamentary words to address him but in turn lot of praise pour in for him in social media in affirmative with positive feedbacks across all sections
Piqued of what happened to her state Union Minister the BJP state Leader in Tamilnadu Dr. Tamilisai angrily reacted and said that she will protest against IPS officer Yatish in Tamilnadu ., for which she been bluntly told by micro bloggers to concentrate on state issues primarily failure of relief work in Gaja Cyclone by state ADMK government
