Cong MP Sudhakaran's remark against Kerala CM; Cong disciplinary panel to look into matter

Pinarayi Vijayan, who hails from the family oftoddy-tappers, travels by helicopter after he became the chiefminister of Kerala and will be remembered as the first chiefminister from the working class to use a helicopter,Sudhakaran had said.CPIM party secretary in-charge A Vijayaraghavanasked the Congress party to come clear on the remarks.In a modern society, we dont use these kinds ofwords.Sudhakaran used an abusive tone in hisspeechagainstthe chief minister.

Senior Congress leader K Sudhakaran's alleged unsavoury remark against ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan has snowballed into a major row,with the Congress' disciplinary committee on Thursday decidingto look into the matter but the MP remained defiant andjustified it.

Sudhakaran had made the remark against Vijayan onWednesday, harping on his family background and being thefirst CM of Kerala ''to buy a helicopter for travelling.'' Senior Congress leader Tariq Anwar, who reacted to theincident, said ''the disciplinary committeewill look into itand will see that in future nobodywill go beyondthe partydiscipline.'' Sudhakaran had made the remarks at the venue of'Aishwarya Yathra,' led by Leader of Opposition RameshChennithala at Thalassery in Kannur district.

The Congress-led UDF had launched the 22 daystate-wide rally from Kambala on January 31 to highlight the'misrule' of the ruling LDF.

The KannnurMP, who reached Delhi for party meetingsonThursday, refused to withdraw his statement and said hestood by what he had said and there was nothingwrong in it.

He also lashed out at Alappuzha MLA and Congressleader Shanimol Usman for asking him to apologise for hisremarks and asked why was a Congress leader upset.

''I stand by what I said.I made that statement afterevaluating the right and wrong in that remark.There is no needto change that.Then why is Shanimol Usman upset by the issue?Even the CPI(M) has not reacted to the issue.'' ''Why is the Congress leader upset about it? I havecomplained to the KPCC leadership about Usman's reaction,''Sudhakaran told reports.

He said he had not abused anyone.

''I mentioned the family background and theprofession of the family.I merely mentioned the lavishspending and use of helicopters by a person from such a humblebackground.There is nothing wrong in it,'' Sudhakaran said.

Chennithala, however, said that ''such commentsshouldhave been avoided''.

...Pinarayi Vijayan, who held the revolutionary flame of theworking class from a family of toddy-tappers and led you fromthe front holding the red flag, where is he now? '' ''Pinarayi Vijayan, who hails from the family oftoddy-tappers, travels by helicopter after he became the chiefminister of Kerala and will be remembered as the first chiefminister from the working class to use a helicopter,''Sudhakaran had said.

CPI(M) party secretary in-charge A Vijayaraghavanasked the Congress party to come clear on the remarks.

''In a modern society, we don't use these kinds ofwords.Sudhakaran used an abusive tone in hisspeechagainstthe chief minister. Congressshould make itsstand clear.Sudhakaran is unaware of the renaissance journeyof Kerala. So the Kerala leaders should make their standclear,'' Vijayaraghavan said.

DYFI, the youth organisation of the ruling CPI(M),also lashed out at the MP and said no one uses such ''casteistand derogatory'' remarksagainst anyone.

The DYFI said the Congress party was being led bythe ''Sangh Parivar ideology.'' ''The Congress leader made a derogatory remarkagainst the chief minister.No one in society uses suchcasteistremarks.Does Congress have a stand that the son of atoddy-tapper should not become the chief minister? Each jobhas its dignity,'' the DYFI said.

''To understand that one needs to read beyondManusmriti and learn human values.These days Congress party isbeing led by Sangh Parivar ideology which follows Manusmriti,''DYFI leaders said at a press meet.

The Chief Minister had to face similar remarks whenthe Left government decided to implement the September28,2018 Supreme Court verdict, allowing entry of women of allage groups into the Sabarimala temple.

Earlier in 2019, BJP state vice-president MSivarajan had said it would have been better if Vijayan ''hadgone back to toddy-tapping'' instead of being the CM.

During the initial protests against the state'sdecision to implement the top court order, a local woman inher 50s allegedly used a derogatory term to denote Vijayan'scaste, a video of which went viral.

She later shot a video apologising to the ChiefMinister.

Prior to that, 'Janmabhoomi', a BJP mouthpiece,had also carried a cartoon, referring to his caste oftraditional toddy tappers and implying he was unfit for thejob.

However, Vijayan had brushed aside these remarks,saying the saffron party always reminded him of his caste andexpected him to follow his family's footsteps, but that timeshad changed, a new era had come about and they would have tounderstand it.