Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Sunday disowned Electricity Minister M.M. Mani’s derogatory remarks against Pengal Otrumai activists.
Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Mani’s remarks against the women’s collective were not correct. Mr. Balakrishnan said that if Mr. Mani had made the comments as reported in the media, it was wrong.
The party secretariat would examine the context in which Mr. Mani had made the remarks and seek an explanation from him. The CPI(M) did not agree with such references, he said in Kozhikode, after calling on the family of Jishnu Pranoy, a student who allegedly committed suicide as a result of the harassment of the college management.
Ministers should maintain the propriety required of their positions. With regard to the Munnar evictions, the line between an official and a Minister should be clearly demarcated, he said.
VS’s stance
Former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said in a statement that Communists should not speak against women and workers and justify encroachments.
The CPI(M) cannot justify such people, however big they might be, he said. Mr. Mani’s remarks also prompted Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma and former MP T.N. Seema to respond in strong words, stating that the Minister’s remarks were not right.
