The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should admit to the public that Electricity Minister M.M. Mani was wrong in making derogatory comments against Pengal Otrumai, a women’s collective, Bharatiya Janata Party State president Kummanam Rajasekharan has said.
At a public meeting in support of the hunger agitation by Pengal Otrumai in Munnar on Thursday, Mr. Rajasekharan said the Chief Minister had informed the Assembly that Mr. Mani had just spoken in the local dialect and had not used derogatory words.
However, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan took a different stand and the party decided to publicly chastise him. This was because Mr. Mani did wrong and Mr. Vijayan had the responsibility to explain it to the public. He asked if Mr. Mani would speak to the elite in the same language. BJP’s Tamil Nadu Chief Tamilisai Soundararajan delivered the keynote address.
Ms. Soundararajan and Mr. Rajasekharan visited the venue of strike by Pengal Otrumai which completed its third day on Thursday. The agitation was launched demanding the resignation of and a public apology by Mr. Mani for his comments against the women collective. Its leader Gomathy said the agitation would not be withdrawn till their demands were met. The collective was not concerned about the action taken by the party against the Minister. More Congress leaders also reached the venue. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala is scheduled to visit the venue on Friday.
Earlier, a rally taken out by Yuva Morcha activists in Munnar demanding the demolition of encroachments in Devikulam taluk turned violent. The police fired water cannons to disperse them.
