KASARGOD: CPM leader and public works minister G Sudhakaran on Sunday evening bristled at the media's criticism of the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala, especially in relation to tardiness in rebuilding roads.
"This LDF government is doing a great job. Bad roads are being rebuilt overnight, but the media won't see that," he said at a function in Kanhangad on Sunday evening.
And he went on to examine the media's treatment of the Saritha S Nair story last year. "What wrong did Saritha do? She only tried to start a business. Is it wrong to conduct talks for the purpose? Those who harmed her should be blamed," he went on to say.
Saritha Nair's role in the Kerala solar panel scam was the big story of 2016, when the LDF dislodged the UDF from power. Ironically, the Saritha Nair episode was used by the LDF as the biggest campaign issue against the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government.
In the Aruvikkara bypoll election campaign, the present chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, then the CPM state secretary, made full use of the Saritha Nair issue, stating that Oommen Chandy cabinet was filled with "dirty ministers" and that the 2013 solar sam exposed the "brothel culture prevailing in the cabinet".