Kochi, Dec 11 – In a fiery exchange on Thursday, V.D. Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, sharply criticized Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He accused the CM of dismissing democratic protests, protecting party leaders from serious accusations, and ignoring Kerala’s climate risks in important development plans.
Satheesan called the CM’s latest reply to him “shocking and of extremely poor quality,” adding that he thought the Chief Minister might have “someone in the CM’s office wrote it” just to wow cyber‑followers during the election season. He warned that the public would be shocked by a sudden drop in standards.
At the heart of the criticism, Satheesan noted, was the CM’s apparent drift toward positions aligned with the “Modi government,” especially when he labelled public protests as destructive acts. For a communist leader to echo such views, Satheesan said, meant a shift “from Marxism to bourgeois politics.”
He defended UDF‑led demonstrations against projects like K‑Rail, stressing that environmental and climate concerns are central to the protests. “Kerala is one of the most climate‑vulnerable areas,” he warned, adding that developments such as proposed embankments for K‑Rail could trigger disasters if environmental impact is ignored.
Vijayan, according to Satheesan, operates “25 years behind” in governance thinking and the government uses “double standards” when handling sexual misconduct complaints. A petition against former CPI(M) MLA P.T. Kunhumohammed was only forwarded to the police after 13 days, with a case registered on December 8. “Why was the complaint buried for 13 days?” Satheesan asked, contrasting it with the immediate action taken on complaints against Congress leaders.
Regarding the GAIL pipeline protests, Satheesan accused the CM of feigning mockery toward the agitations, recalling that the government only accepted key demands—such as a tenfold increase in compensation—after the protests intensified.
When asked about accusations that Jamaat‑e‑Islami supports the UDF in the current polls, Satheesan reminded that CPI(M) has received the same backing “for 42 years” and that senior leaders, including Vijayan, have interacted with the organisation.
He also highlighted a crisis in higher education, noting that nine universities presently lack Vice Chancellors—a situation he blamed on the prolonged conflict between the Governor and the state government.
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