Wednesday, February 25

Cong MP terms attack claim on Kerala Health Minister a political drama

Kannur, Feb 25 (IANS) Veteran Congress Lok Sabha member from Kannur, K. Sudhakaran, on Wednesday said that while Veena George may not be a good Health Minister, she has proven herself to be a good actress.

He alleged that the claims propagated by the CPI-M that Kerala’s Health Minister was attacked inside Kannur railway station by KSU workers are completely baseless and amount to a political drama staged by the party.

She was to have boarded the Vande Bharat train from Kannur and had reached the railway station when the episode occurred.

“From all the visuals being shown in connection with the incident, it is clear that the allegations of an attack and of her having sustained injuries have no connection with the actual course of events,” said Sudhakaran, whose running feud with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan spans more than five decades.

According to Sudhakaran, the KSU activists who were present at the spot carried out their protest in a democratic manner.

The students did not attack the Minister, nor did they engage in any act of violence, he asserted, adding that eyewitness accounts and available information clearly indicate this.

He further pointed out that almost all visual media outlets in Kerala were present at the scene.

“Is there any footage in any visual media showing KSU activists attacking the Minister? Even channels, including CPI-M-linked Kairali TV, were present at the spot. Not a single channel has aired visuals of KSU students attacking the Minister,” he said.

Instead, he claimed, the available footage shows the Minister angrily confronting the protesters.

Sudhakaran maintained that the CPI-M’s allegations are politically motivated and lack factual basis.

Meanwhile, the Minister is presently admitted to the ICU at Kannur district hospital, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and several top leaders have reached the hospital.

As soon as the news spread, angry CPI-M workers and their feeder organisations took to the streets, and in the Minister’s home district of Pathanamthitta, the protesters destroyed the flagposts of the KSU and posters of Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan.

–IANS

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