The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has demanded a comprehensive investigation into the detection of forged building regularisation documents of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation at the Nemom Zonal Office and the Valiyavila ward and the arrest of an individual related to the incident.

S.P. Deepak, the LDF parliamentary party leader, said on Friday that the incidents at Nemom and Valiyavila exemplify the resurgence of middlemen, a phenomenon that had been absent from the Corporation for several years. He alleged that the administrative machinery is being rendered ineffective, with those in power personally stepping in to uncover irregularities only to subsequently settle matters through compromises.

“There is a deliberate attempt to undermine the K-SMART system, which was implemented in local self-government institutions during the tenure of the previous LDF government. Complainants are summoned to the Mayor’s office and made to wait for hours. Those who fail to find a resolution there are effectively forced to get their work done through agents. The Nemom Zonal Office operates under the control of a BJP-led administrative committee and the councilors representing the wards under this zone are also BJP members. It is impossible for middlemen to operate freely within the office without their knowledge,” he said.