Thiruvananthapuram, June 29 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Monday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, seeking his urgent intervention in the reported denial of passport renewal to veteran journalist and editor R. Rajagopal, even as Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan flagged concerns over citizens’ rights.

In a statement on X, Satheesan said he had requested Adhikari to personally intervene after reports that Rajagopal’s passport renewal had been held up following an adverse police verification report from the Kolkata Police.

“I have written to the Chief Minister of West Bengal requesting his urgent intervention in the reported denial of passport renewal to renowned journalist R. Rajagopal. According to reports, his passport renewal has been held up following an adverse police verification report from the Kolkata Police. I sincerely hope the matter is examined fairly and resolved,” Satheesan said.

“I would like to request your good self to kindly look into the matter with urgency,” Satheesan urged the Bengal CM

Rajagopal, a Malayali journalist who served as editor of the Kolkata-based national daily, was reportedly removed from the electoral rolls of Kolkata’s Ballygunge Assembly constituency during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) undertaken earlier this year.

He has challenged the deletion before the appropriate tribunal. According to reports, the Regional Passport Office subsequently asked him to appear for verification, but scheduled the appointment only for July 17, preventing him from travelling to California to attend his daughter’s wedding.

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan described the reported denial of passport renewal as shocking, saying it raised serious questions about the consequences of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

“If this is the experience of a journalist of Rajagopal’s stature, one can only imagine the plight of ordinary citizens,” Vijayan said in his social media post.

He alleged that Rajagopal may have been targeted because of his longstanding criticism of the BJP and accused the Centre of using the Special Intensive Revision as a tool to selectively disenfranchise citizens.

Vijayan further alleged that the electoral roll revision was being turned into an instrument to advance a divisive Hindutva agenda and maintained that citizenship and other civil rights could not be made contingent on the revision process.

He called upon all those committed to democratic values to oppose any action that undermines citizens’ constitutional rights.

The reported passport issue has added a fresh political dimension to the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision, with the ruling UDF and the Opposition Left, despite their political differences, expressing concern over the treatment meted out to the veteran journalist, albeit from different perspectives.

–IANS

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