Thiruvananthapuram: Former Director General of Police and newly elected Sasthamangalam councillor R Sreelekha on Saturday clarified that her decision to remain seated on stage during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in Thiruvananthapuram resulted from decades of professional discipline ingrained during her police service.

Sreelekha, who is also the BJP’s Kerala state vice-president, issued the clarification after television reports suggested that she had deliberately kept her distance from the Prime Minister due to dissatisfaction over not being considered for the post of Thiruvananthapuram Mayor.

Dismissing such reports as “misleading”, she said in a social media video that politics was relatively new terrain for her, unlike her more than 33 years in the police force.

“For someone who has done a lot of VVIP duty, discipline is very important for me. So, I thought I should remain in the position I was given, as a party worker, when the PM arrived, and that is what I did,” she said.

She added that her training had taught her not to approach a VVIP unless invited. “Probably due to the training I have received regarding not approaching unless invited, I kept to my seat. I thought it would not be right to go near the VVIP entrance through which the PM came and left, and therefore, I remained standing near my seat,” she explained.

Sreelekha said she was surprised to see television channels interpreting the visuals negatively. “I would like to tell everyone not to be misled by such reports unnecessarily, as I am always with the BJP,” she said.

Television footage from the event showed Sreelekha seated at one corner of the stage at the Putharikandam Maidan when the Prime Minister arrived, while other leaders moved forward to greet him. She was also seen leaving the stage from the same spot as the Prime Minister departed.

Prime Minister Modi arrived in the state capital on Friday, during which he inaugurated multiple development projects, flagged off four trains in Kerala, and addressed party workers and supporters at the public meeting.
PTI