Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on November 23, 2023 slammed Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan for his “intemperate outbursts and use of offensive remarks”, which the former alleged were increasingly bordering on the personal.
Speaking to reporters in Wayanad, Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Satheesan seemed to be giving vent to his anger that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition’s much tom-tommed boycott of the Cabinet’s public outreach programme, Navakerala Sadas, had petered out.
Mr. Vijayan said “personal insults and abusive language” against him would not retard the momentum of the programme. “People are at the venues by seven in the morning to directly present their needs to the Cabinet. They leave the venue feeling gratified”, he said.
Mr. Vijayan accused the Congress leadership of sanctioning a vilification campaign to “belittle” him. He alleged that a Congress leader had attempted to question his ancestry’s legitimacy. “The insinuation had scarce effect on me since I was born to a proper and caring father”, Mr. Vijayan said.
“Mr. Satheesan’s tone and language have taken a turn for the worse. Is it of his own volition, or is the Opposition Leader receiving the wrong advice?” Mr. Vijayan asked.
Mr. Vijayan said Opposition legislators were peeved that Mr. Satheesan had denied them the unique opportunity to flag their constituency’s issues directly with the Cabinet.
He accused Mr. Satheesan of denying Opposition MLAs the opportunity to hold the government accountable publicly and wring solutions from the administration in the presence of their voters.
Mr. Vijayan said that Opposition MLAs would have presided over the Navakerala Sadas in their respective constituencies if it were not for the Congress leadership.
The Chief Minister claimed increasing bipartisan political approval for the public outreach exercise. Mr. Vijayan pointed out that at least two Congress-ruled municipal Corporations in the State had violated the party diktat and allocated funds for the Navakerala Sadas.
Mr. Vijayan attempted to dampen Mr. Satheesan’s criticism that the Cabinet’s public outreach was a sham to pull the wool over the public’s eye by reeling out figures of the petitions “resolved” by the Cabinet.
Mr. Vijayan said the government had shown that the Cabinet could meet in transit and effectively govern from afar.
School children
Mr. Vijayan tried to douse the controversy about a few teachers lining up lower primary school children on the road in Kannur to greet his motorcade. “I saw and waved at them. The children were standing in the shade and seemed happy. Nevertheless, I disapprove of using children’s school time for non-study purposes”, Mr. Vijayan said.
