The row over the cremation of a COVID-19 victim at the municipal crematorium here is gradually snowballing into a larger political controversy with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) here accusing each other of using the issue to gain political mileage.
Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, LDF leaders said while the protests against the cremation was instigated by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor T.N. Harikumar, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, of the Congress colluded with the BJP to mislead the people. They also demanded an apology from the Kottayam MLA for attempting to sabotage the COVID-19 defence programme of the State government.
The UDF, in its response, said the LDF was attempting to divert attention from the failure of the government in controlling the pandemic. The CPI(M) was using the district administration as a tool in its attempt to give a political colour to the issue, said Joshy Philip, president, District Congress Committee. The BJP has launched a social media campaign on the issue.
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‘Not a CSI member’
Meanwhile, CSI Madhya Kerala Bishop Thomas K. Oommen expressed disapproval over the attempts to connect the Church with the cremation row at Muttambalam. “The deceased man was not a member of the CSI Church and hence the Church does not have any connection with the incident. However, some vested interests tried to draw the CSI Church into it and this cannot be taken for granted,” he said.