Not offended by Sudhakaran's remarks, says Kerala CM

My elder brother was also a toddy tapper.Secondbrother too knew the job but started a bakery. Ours is an agrarian family.I am not offended by thecomment.

Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan on Friday said he was not offended by seniorCongress leader K Sudhakaran's remarks against him and he wasproud to be the son of a hardworkingman who was a toddytapper.

Sudhakaran had said Vijayan, who hails from afamily of toddy-tappers, will be remembered ''as the first CMfrom the working class to use a helicopter.'' He made the comments on Tuesday at the venue of'Aishwarya Yathra,' led by Leader of Opposition RameshChennithala at Thalassery in Kannur district.

Asked about the remarks made by the Kannur MP, Vijayansaid he does not consider thecomments as abusive as he wasthe son of a toddy tapper.

''I have said earlier also that my father was a toddytapper. My elder brother was also a toddy tapper.Secondbrother too knew the job but started a bakery.'' ''Ours is an agrarian family.I am not offended by thecomment. I do not take it as abuse.I am the son of a toddytapper.I am proud that I am the son of a hardworking man,''Vijayan said.

He said Sudhakaran had blamed Alappuzha MLA ShanimolUsman for making the matter a controversy.

''Even Ramesh Chennithala had to change his stance inthe matter.People of the state very well know my lifestyle,''Vijayan said.

In a sort of u-turn, several Congress leaders onFriday sought to play down the remark, saying it was notabusive.

The Congress' disciplinary committee earlier said itwill look into the matter, but party's Rajya Sabha MP K CVenugopal claimed the statement was made in a colloquialmanner.

The lone women Congress MLA Shanimol Usman, who hadearlier lashed out at Sudhakaran for his remarks, tendered anunconditional apology to the MP, saying she should have spokento him before reacting.

Chennithala, in response to questions posed byreporters yesterday, had said such comments should have beenavoided.

However, on Friday, he told the media that hisreaction yesterday was a ''general statement'' and Sudhakaranwas an asset to the Congress party.

''Sudhakaran said he didn't make any abusivestatement against the CM.When I enquired, it was true.I made ageneral statement in the matter when reporters asked me.He isa popular leader and an asset for the Congress party,''Chennithala said.

Meanwhile, Sudhakaran, who met the media in Delhi,stood by the statement, saying he only mentioned theoccupation of Vijayan's family to point out his ''lavishlifestyle'' now.

''The discussion for the last two days was that I hadmade casteist remarks.The CPI(M) reacted to my Tuesday'sspeech on Thursday.They woke up from their sleep.ShanimolUsman intervened unnecessarily and now she understands andtendered an apology.Leader of opposition also changed hisstand.'' In a Facebook post, Usman said she should have askedSudhakaran about the incident before reacting.

''Sudhakaran made the statement in a colloquialmanner. Sudhakaran had clarified that he was not intending tomake any casteist remarks,'' Venugopal said.

However, state law minister A K Balan saidSudhakaran always had ''hatred towards Vijayan''.

''The congress leaders are afraid of Sudhakaran.Thecongress leaders should show the spine to stop Sudhakaran frommaking such casteist remarks,'' Balan said.

The BJP leadership also said there was no need toconsider the statement by Sudhakaran as a casteist remark.

''There is no need for such a controversy.The Leftleaders have made even more derogatory statements earlier,''BJP state president K Surendran said at Kozhikode.

Sudhakaran had earlier expressed his interest intaking over as the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)president after the party's recent local body poll debacle.

The Chief Minister had to face similar remarks whenthe Left government decided to implement the September 28,2018Supreme Court verdict, allowing entry of women of all agegroups into the Sabarimala temple.

Earlier in 2019, BJP state vice-president MSivarajan said it would have been better if Vijayan ''had goneback 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,carried a cartoon, referring to his caste of traditional toddytappers and implying he was unfit for the job.

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.PTI RRT BNADMINISTRATOR BNADMINISTRATOR