Thiruvananthapuram: While the Gujarat team of ministers and MLAs was here to drum up support for ‘Run for Unity’ and ‘Statue of Unity’ ventures, the spotlight has been on three Malayali IAS/IPS officials accompanying them.
Manoj Sasidhar, Joint Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad city, Jenudevan, Chotta Udepur District Collector, and Deepan Bhadran, Baroda SP, are in the team led by Sanjay Kaul, former District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram.
Gujarat Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Babubhai Bokhiriya and his jumbo team of legislators and IAS/IPS officials are camping in the state since Monday.
Kaul, who is Tourism Commissioner in Gujarat, and Jenudevan had visited Kerala early last month to spearhead the entourage’s current visit.
The Malayali bureaucrats opined that they have been entrusted by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his team to tour their home state to make preparations for the two ventures.
Sasidhar, though born in Kochi, had his ancestral home next to the secretariat, which his parents sold off long ago. He feels that after all these years, the capital city is still laidback compared to Kochi.
“It’s a coincidence that Lok Sabha elections are just around the corner. So far, we have not politicised the ‘Statue of Unity’ initiative and I can’t say whether it will be the same next year during the same time,” said Sasidhar, an alumnus of Loyola School at Sreekariyam.
Kumarakom native Jenudevan was reluctant to pose for a picture initially and, like an obedient subordinate, sought the permission of Kaul. He says that he is treading cautiously as he is at the helm of a new district, Chotta Udepur which was formed on August 15 along with six other new districts.
“My challenges are slightly different as it’s a new district where I have started my work from scratch. What I have learned from my stint in Gujarat is that if you work hard, they will appreciate your efforts,” said Jenudevan.
Like a typical police officer, what Bhadran likes about his stint in Gujarat is the excellent law and order situation prevalent there. A native of Kadappakada in Kollam, he has seven years’ experience in Gujarat where there is no classification among people who have come from different regions of the country, he told DC.
May be this is one reason why Modi’s team is packed with Malayali bureaucrats and officials. Principal Chief Secretary K. Kailashnathan, also known as KK, a 1979 batch retired IAS officer, has advised Modi on charting out his political strategies.
Other Malayalis in the team include Muraleedharan, Modi’s personal assistant and Thrissur native, Umesh Babu who is the secretary to his additional principal secretary A. K. Sharma and Gopinath of Palakkad, secretary to Modi’s programme officer Sanjay Bhavsar.
