THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Soon after removing M Sivasankar from the principal secretary post to the chief minister, the former has applied for a long leave. He has forwarded the leave application to the office of the chief minister. His leave application is following the allegations levelled against him. Though he was removed from the post of secretary to the chief minister, he was not removed from the IT secretary post. He gave the leave application soon after the chief minister deserted him.

M Sivasankar was a close confidante of the chief minister. Sivasankar, also the IT secretary, has been in the midst of criticisms ever since the Sprinklr controversy accused the government and the chief minister's office. Things turned worse after the accused in the gold smuggling case was found having close connections with Sivasankar.