AK Gopalan row: Now Congress MLA Balram attacks VS Achuthanandan saying old and infirm are enjoying government perks

Balram made the comment in a Facebook post following VS Achuthanandan's article in the party organ Desabhimani titled "When Amul babies take centre stage”.
VS Achuthanandan (File photo | PTI)
VS Achuthanandan (File photo | PTI)

PALAKKAD: Congress MLA V.T. Balram, who is already under fire for his remarks against Communist stalwart AKG (AK Gopalan), has now chosen to attack the nonagenarian CPM leader V.S. Achuthanandan. Balaram posted a comment on a Facebook post saying, the world not only belongs to the old who enjoy all the perks at public expense but also to the youth.

Balram made the comment in a Facebook post following VS Achuthanandan's article in the party organ Desabhimani titled "When Amul babies take centre stage”.

Earlier, Balaram had questioned the age difference between AKG and Susheela Gopalan and also the fact that he had married a second time when he was legally wedded to his first wife. The post also described AKG as a middle-aged person who fell in love with Susheela when she was about 12 or 13 years old. 

AKG had married Susheela Gopalan at the age of 22 years after a decade of courtship.

It were these comments of Balaram, which saw Achuthanandan also joining the issue by writing an article which appeared on Tuesday. Balaram also criticised Achuthanandan's statement where he equated Gandhiji and AKG while criticising him.

Balaram said that on the one hand VS was trying to extrapolate that raking up the issue of AKGs second marriage amounted to a “personal attack on individual freedom”, and at the same time VS was covertly trying to drag Gandhiji into the controversy, which was sheer “double standard’.

Balaram in his FB post said that the former chief minister had followed a policy of “peeping” into the personal life of his political adversaries. He said raising personal allegations against adversaries was a “weakness” of oneself. 

"Your comments against the family members of a jawan who laid down his life for the country, against a youth leader of your party who rose from a fishermen family and against the woman candidate of the Congress who contested against you in the Malampuzha constituency can only be termed as an 'asset' to the Malayalam lexicon," he said.

"By sitting in the chair of the Opposition leader, you had attacked not only the then Chief Minister but also dragged his family members. Whether or not it is in the assembly records, it is a fact that those words still ring in our ears. We also remember your party colleagues who joined the chorus encouraged by your outbursts. Your remarks were not of a cough, but you read out a written statement prepared by your personal staff, which by no means were of a decent nature," says Balaram in his post.

"I have no qualms in being referred to as 'Amul Baby'since you yourself has mentioned that it was in continuation of you calling the present all India president of the Congress “Amul Baby”. I am proud of your remark against me. 

But Achuthanandan should remember one thing. This world does not only belong to the old and infirm who live in Government bungalows, drive in state cars, enjoy perks and have an entourage of personnel staff but also to the young members of the society, he added.

Balaram in an oblique reference to the son of Achuthanandan continues to state that not everyone has the ability to make Amul babies enjoy positions like the Kerafed MD and the IHRD director within a short span of time, but youngsters will excel in their own fields and move on. Please remember that the world is changing.

Balaram ended his post stating that he had replied to the posts of new gen activists who were engaged in activities tarnishing the image of the Congress leaders Let the political discussions on the pros and cons of it continue. The Congress party and the society at large can correct me if I am wrong. However, I need not be sermonized by the CPM or yourself (VS) on this issue.

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