Cong continues attack on LDF govt over M M Mani's remarks

The Congress continued to attack the LDF government over CPI(M) legislator M M Mani's remarks against a woman MLA in the Kerala Assembly recently and later against CPI leader Annie Raja, saying the ruling front's conduct was ''surprising'' and shows ''lack of humanity''.

Senior Congress leader and MP K C Venugopal told a TV channel it was ''surprising'' how the ruling front and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan supported Mani after what he said in the Assembly against RMP MLA K K Rema.

He said even the CPI has been silent on the issue and now even one of their own leaders -- Annie Raja -- was verbally attacked by Mani.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief and MP K Sudhakaran, too, attacked the ruling front and the Chief Minister over Mani's remarks and their apparent support to him.

''Their lack of humanity is evident from their conduct towards K K Rema,'' he said.

However, the Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja hit back at Venugopal, saying he should focus on his party and the situation of women in its youth wing instead of worrying about what is happening in the Left party.

She said, ''Instead of shedding tears for CPI, K C Venugopal should be focused on his party and the situation of women in its Youth Congress. He should be more focused or concerned about Congress not becoming leaderless. He need not shed tears for CPI.'' The CPI leader was speaking to reporters in Delhi.

In response to queries whether there was any lack of support from the CPI over her recent comments about Mani's remarks or if her reaction was from an individual standpoint and not that of the party, she said that what she said was the reaction of the party.

She said that she had reacted, so had CPI MP Binoy Viswam and also the party's women's wing in Kerala.

''Does it become a reaction of the organisation only if everyone in it reacts? If some of us react, is it not a reaction? ''Don't limit what I said as that of an individual. What I said was the reaction of a national party,'' Annie Raja said.

She further said issues like gender equality and gender sensitivity need to be openly discussed in Kerala where both the Left and the Congress have considerable presence.

These issues should not be hidden or discussed behind closed doors, she said.

These issues need to be openly discussed and debated and that would be the only way to ensure more women representation in parties as well as the State assembly, she further said.

Speaking to reporters at the national capital, Sudhakaran also criticised CPI's alleged lack of support to Annie Raja, saying it was disgraceful that the Left party was not supporting her.

Annie Raja had recently criticised Mani for his controversial ''that was her fate'' remark against Rema in connection with the killing of her husband T P Chandrasekharan.

A CPI(M) rebel, Chandrasekharan was hacked to death in May 2012 after he floated a parallel Left outfit called the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) in his home turf Onchiayam in north Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)