Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] which is “hiding” the accused in the death of J.S. Siddharth, a second-year student of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Pookode in Wayanad district, should “give them up.”
Addressing mediapersons in Kochi on March 2, Mr. Satheesan accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of “not having uttered a word” about the alleged “brutal murder” which has rattled all parents in Kerala.
He alleged that the Chief Minister, who had described the attack on Youth Congress activists at Kalyassery in Kannur during the Navakerala Sadas as “rescue work” and encouraged to continue that, was responsible for the “reign of terror unleashed by SFI and DYFI criminals.”
“The new-generation SFI and DYFI activists are on the same path as the CPI(M) leaders who publicly called for the murder of the late [RMP leader] T.P. Chandrasekharan,” he said.
Congress to protest
Mr. Satheesan said the Congress will organise protests at all block headquarters on March 2 (Saturday) evening “seeking to protect Kerala from criminals.” This will be followed by indefinite hunger strikes led by presidents of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), Youth Congress and Mahila Congress at Thiruvananthapuram from March 4.
The Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) will go ahead with strong protests “for freeing parents of college students from their uncertainties,” he said.
Mr. Satheesan accused the SFI of trying to defame the deceased Siddharth and his family even after allegedly beating him up and hanging him.
“A fake complaint was cooked up after his death that was probed by a committee led by an SFI leader who is an accused in the alleged murder. A senior CPI(M) leader from Wayanad had appeared for the accused before the Magistrate. The CPI(M) is trying to protect the accused in the alleged brutal murder. A CPI(M) leader has publicly intimidated the investigation officer,” he said.
Financial crisis
Mr. Satheesan said Kerala has nosedived to a very serious financial crisis with the payment of salary to government employees getting disrupted for the first time in the history. The UDF had warned of such a scenario in the White Papers they had released in 2020 and 2023, he said.
“The flawed financial management of the State government is responsible for the precarious financial situation. The State is staring at an unprecedented financial crisis with all social security schemes in the doldrums. Social welfare pension remains disrupted for seven months, leaving 55 lakh beneficiaries staring at hunger and disruption of medical care because of their inability to buy medicines. All welfare funds have fallen apart. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students are giving up studies owing to alleged disruption of financial assistance,” Mr. Satheesan said.
He also accused the government of “taking refuge in technical hiccups” while lack of funds was the real reason behind the failure to pay the salary of government employees. “Salary for 1.5 lakh government employees was disrupted on Friday. The government should come out with a White Paper on the financial state of Kerala,” he said.
He asked the government to come clean on the exact dues owed by the Central government. “The Opposition had demolished the cooked-up figure of ₹57,800 crore, which the State claimed was due from the Centre, in the Assembly. The State was due only ₹3,100 crore,” he said.
Mr. Satheesan accused the State government of having delayed the submission of documents for the GST compensation. “Corruption and mismanagement of the government was responsible for the dire financial state,” he added.
