THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s guilty conscience that prompted the LDF government to lodge a case against a central agency like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Union Minister V Muraleedharan has said. He was inaugurating the election convention of BJP national executive member Sobha Surendran who is the NDA candidate from Kazhakkoottam. Muraleedharan said a chief minister who used his office for gold smuggling was unheard of in the state.
The Union minister said Pinarayi often speaks about attempts to intimidate him using Central agencies. It is Pinarayi’s sense of wrongdoing that makes him think in that manner, he said. Muraleedharan also sought to know why the regret expressed by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran found no mention in the LDF manifesto. He dared Kadakampally to publicly denounce the stance taken by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sabarimala women entry.
The Union minister said the Nair Service Society (NSS) is an organistaion that stood firm with Ayyappa devotees. He added that attempts to silence the NSS on the Sabarimala issue through a slander campaign will not succeed.
‘Defeat Kadakamapally’
Sobha, who addressed the gathering, urged the people of Kazhakkoottam to take away from minister Kadakampally’s hands the baton of power which he wielded to wreck the customs and beliefs associated with the Sabarimala temple. “The people of Kazhakkoottam have recognised Kadakampally in the same manner as Lord Krishna recognised the demon Poothana,” Sobha said and added that Poothan’s end will soon happen in Kazhakoottam. She said the people of Kazhakkoottam will give a befitting reply to Kadakampally through the ballot.
Sobha also flayed UDF candidate S S Lal as the person who wrote a blog supporting entry of young women in Sabarimala. The UDF has shown its double standards by fielding such a person from Kazhakkottam, she added.