The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress seemed to vie to politically exploit the purported rumblings of resentment in the Kerala Congress (M) over Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s allegedly dismissive remark against Thomas Chazhikadan, MP, at a recent Navakerala Sadas meeting in Pala.
Mr. Chazhikadan had sought to raise the travails of rubber farmers beset by low crop prices at the meeting. Mr. Vijayan endeavoured to correct Mr. Chazhikadan on stage. He maintained that the Cabinet’s public outreach programme aimed at appraising the public about the impediments to transforming Kerala into a modern knowledge economy and welfare state and transcended the bounds of a grievance redressal forum.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran obliquely targeted KC(M) chairperson Jose. K. Mani, who shared the stage, for “failing” to defend Mr. Chazhikadan.
