KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said that if the CPI(M) does not intervene to stop the criminals, the Congress will have to respond strongly.
Published Dec 16, 2023 | 4:06 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 17, 2023 | 11:58 AM
Kerala LoP VD Satheesan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (Facebook)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, VD Satheesan, on Saturday, 16 December, engaged in a war of words over the alleged attack against the workers of Youth Congress and Kerala Students Union (KSU) by the security staff of the Chief Minister in Alappuzha recently, during the state government’s outreach programme, Nava Kerala Sadas.
KPCC president K Sudhakaran and Satheesan issued separate statements condemning the alleged attack on KSU workers, “who were raising slogans as the Chief Minister’s convoy passed through Alappuzha.”
Satheesan came down heavily on Vijayan and accused him of having a “sadist mindset”.
“The Chief Minister’s bodyguards and gunmen are a group of hardened criminals in the police. We clearly know the criminal background of each of them,” Satheesan said.
He asked whether nobody has the right to stage a protest against the government and the Chief Minister in Kerala.
Vijayan, while addressing a press conference in Kayamkulam, strongly supported one of his security staff who was accused of brutally thrashing the protesters with a stick in Alappuzha on Friday and forcibly pushing away a press photographer who tried to take his pictures in Idukki.
The Chief Minister said his bodyguards ensure that no danger happens to him.
Vijayan said the photographer had come very close to him while he was walking, and it was natural for his bodyguard to move him away. “It is very natural, and they are deployed for the duty,” he said, justifying his security staff’s action.
The Chief Minister also said that he didn’t see the particular officer attacking the KSU activists who had staged a protest in Alappuzha.
Vijayan said he and his Cabinet colleagues were travelling together on the bus to attend the Nava Kerala Sadas programme and certain people suddenly jumped in front of the vehicle.
“I only saw the policemen in uniform blocking them,” he said, adding that his other security personnel were not there at that moment.
He also criticised the Opposition Congress and the media for consistently criticising the Nava Kerala Sadas, his government’s ambitious outreach programme, and said that the initiative was for the welfare of the state and its people.
Satheesan warned that if hooliganism continues against KSU-Youth Congress workers, they will retaliate.
“Police criminals, who are bodyguards of the Chief Minister, should remember that Vijayan will not be in office forever,” he added.
The LoP warned that such officers would not be able to move out of their homes if the Congress activists decided to do so.
The Congress also claimed that after KSU-Youth Congress workers were attacked in Alappuzha, the house of KPCC general secretary MJ Job was targeted, and his wife was assaulted.
Terming it ‘unacceptable’, Satheesan said, “This is low politics,” and urged Vijayan to “control the criminals.”
KPCC president Sudhakaran alleged that criminals and police are systematically attacking Congress workers on the Chief Minister’s orders.
Sudhakaran said that if the CPI(M) does not intervene to stop the criminals, the Congress will have to respond strongly.
VIDEO | Youth Congress workers hold protest in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala alleging they and Kerala Students Union workers were attacked by the security staff of the CM in Alappuzha recently. pic.twitter.com/4qg4fbYFUq
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 16, 2023
(With PTI inputs)
