Vijayan claimed there was an agenda to destroy peace in the southern state and it was being attempted in various ways.
Kerala LoP VD Satheesan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (Facebook)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Wednesday, 20 December alleged that the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly VD Satheesan was trying to destroy peace in the state by calling for violence against the government and its outreach programme — the Nava Kerala Sadas.
Vijayan alleged that when Satheesan, during his speech outside the Secretariat, repeatedly exhorted the Youth Congress (YC) activists to “hit back”, he was calling for violence against the government and its outreach programme.
“The Opposition leader has openly called for violence. It is good you publicly stated that you will take the path of violence and will continue on that path. That is how the responsible Opposition leader of Kerala is talking,” Vijayan said.
“He repeatedly asked the YC workers to hit them. Whom is he going to hit? He is calling for violence against us and our programme. Should a responsible person like him talk like this? This move to destroy the peace of the state is not right,” the Chief Minister said.
The hard-hitting accusations from the Chief Minister came while addressing a Nava Kerala Sadas gathering at Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram.
Vijayan claimed there was an agenda to destroy peace in the southern state and it was being attempted in various ways.
“One part of that attempt was started by the Kerala Governor. We have already said so. However, that failed when his walk in a busy market street in Kozhikode district of the state led to people welcoming him and plying him with halwa (a sweet).
“So, the Governor’s move has now been publicly taken up by the Congress. But the Congress should understand that its move to destroy the peace in the state would not work,” the Chief Minister said.
He said that this is Kerala and “such games” will not work here.
Besides that, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran has accepted the Governor’s move to appoint Sangh Parivar nominees to the senates in the universities of the state, Vijayan claimed.
“The KPCC chief has even said that the Sangh Parivar was a part of our country’s democratic system. So that shows the Congress stand. The Governor as Chancellor arbitrarily made the appointments to the Senates,” he charged.
“This arbitrary decision has been publicly justified by the Congress. Both the KPCC chief and the LoP share that view.” Vijayan said.
Satheesan, earlier in the day, warned that Congress will take the law into its own hands if proper action is not taken by the police against those who allegedly attacked workers of its youth and student outfits for showing black flags to Vijayan.
The LoP also demanded the removal of the Chief Minister’s “criminal” gunman and personal security officers who allegedly beat up YC-KSU activists for showing black flags to Vijayan.
“There is a limit to everything. Till now we have been telling them (YC-KSU activists) to exercise restraint. I am here to change that stance. If these two things are not done, hit back. We will hit back,” Satheesan said.
“Let there be no doubt about that. We will account for every attack on us from Kalliasseri (in Kannur district) till Kollam. We know who all attacked our people. We will retaliate starting from Kalliasseri,” he said.
Prior to that, he also said that the Chief Minister was accompanied by two or three vehicles filled with goondas in addition to over 2,000 police personnel while travelling across the state for the Nava Kerala Sadas programmes.
He had also called the Chief Minister a “coward” who was hiding behind the police and criminals.
Referring to these statements, Vijayan said that Satheesan’s mental balance appeared to have been affected as he was spreading wrong information about the Chief Minister’s security detail.
The Chief Minister also said that whether he was a coward or someone with a “sadistic mindset” will be decided by the public and not the opposition leader.
As the Nava Kerala Sadas of the Left government entered its last leg, the heart of the state capital turned into a battlefield between the police and activists of the Youth Congress on Wednesday afternoon.
A YC march organised to the Secretariat in protest against the recent attacks on its and KSU activists turned violent with workers of the youth outfit of Congress and the police clashing with each other.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
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