Will Pinarayi Vijayan accommodate retiring former aide M Sivasankar?

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM [KERALA]: With M. Sivasankar, once the closest aide of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, superannuating as principal secretary Sports and Youth Affairs on January 31, the power corridors are abuzz with talks about him being accommodated after retirement.

The veteran leader faced 17-months suspension after the infamous Kerala gold smuggling case surfaced in July 2020.

Until then, Sivasankar was the most powerful bureaucrat in the state by virtue of being the closest aide of Vijayan.

But after the arrest of Swapna Suresh, things turned topsy turvy for him as their relation became the talk of the town, giving enough fodder for the Congress-led Opposition to take on Vijayan.

After spending 90 days in jail, Sivasankar was released on bail and reinstated in service in January last year ending suspension of several months.

Vijayan, who has been at the helm of affairs in the state since May 2016, had drafted in Sivasankar then into his office and elevated him to the topmost post. After his career went for a toss, the fact that Vijayan brought him back into service brought to light that many bureaucrats who were in the good books of Vijayan were accommodated after retirement.

But if the budget session of the Kerala Assembly extends till March and Vijayan decides to give Sivasankar a post, he will have to wait for the session to end or the Congress-led opposition would create a ruckus on the issue.