THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected allegations that his recent comment in the state assembly amounted to body-shaming of an Opposition MLA.
Terming it a mere colloquial usage, Pinarayi said he was only referring to an MLA trying to attack the watch and ward staffer, under the cover of special privileges guaranteed by the assembly.
Speaking to the media in Delhi on Friday, the CM justified the remark. "The usage is a colloquial expression. It simply means someone who is weak and could be blown away by the wind,” the Chief Minister said.
Even as there were reports that the remark was aimed at Muslim League MLA Najeeb Kanthapuram, Pinarayi indicated that he was not referring to the former.
“I saw a woman watch-and-ward staffer being pushed. The person who was attacking was weak, and that is why I used that phrase. I did not mean MLA Najeeb Kanthapuram,” he said.
The controversy began after the Chief Minister, during a discussion in the Assembly, made a sarcastic remark that was widely interpreted as mocking the height of an Opposition MLA.
Without naming anyone, he referred to a member as “a person who looks like he’s been stacked up to eight and three-quarters,” which the opposition slammed as derogatory and inappropriate.
The CM's remark mocking the short stature of the UDF MLA ignited a ‘body shaming’ controversy, with the Opposition demanding withdrawal of the unsavoury remark and an apology from him.