Kerala CPI(M) MLA V.K. Prasanth to vacate Sasthamangalam office amid row with BJP councillor Sreelekha

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] MLA V.K. Prasanth has decided to vacate his office at Sasthamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and shift to Maruthankuzhy in an apparent effort to put an end to the ongoing controversy involving newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor R. Sreelekha, who has also occupied a portion of the office.

Soon after getting elected, Ms. Sreelekha had demanded Mr. Prasanth to vacate his office, which he has been occupying for the last seven years. She later set up her office in the space allocated for the councillor from the Sasthamangalam ward.

Mr. Prasanth told The Hindu that he did not want the controversy to drag on. “Is it not better if I call it a day and move my office?” he asked. The MLA said he is shifting to a place which is “convenient for the hundreds of people who visit me daily” for various matters.

Another CPI(M) leader said the party did not want the BJP in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation “setting the political agenda” in the district ahead of the Assembly elections. “Nor did the CPI(M) accord a narrative advantage to the BJP, which has sought to create the impression that the MLA was somehow living rent-free or rent-subsidised in the Corporation building,” he said.

The MLA had earlier expressed concern that the controversy over the office was being used to spread false claims against him in the public sphere. He had refuted claims that MLAs were being provided a rental allowance and put out his salary slip in the public domain. Mr. Prasanth said he had rented the office, located centrally in his constituency, so that his office would remain easily accessible to the general public. He had also paid rent till March 31, 2026 to the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, which owns the building.

He said the building, which also houses the health circle office of the Corporation, was renovated during his term as Mayor from 2015-19. The hall inside the building was partitioned to house the Vattiyurkavu MLA as well as the Sasthamangalam councillor’s office. The previous two councillors, including LDF councillor Bindu Sreekumar and BJP councillor Madhusoodhanan Nair, had occupied the space allocated for them.