Reminding the CPM that it is a political party expected to function within the framework of democratic principles, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has urged it to introspect the style of ongoing agitation against him.
Answering the queries of mediapersons during the regular Cabinet briefing at the Chief Minister’s official residence here on Wednesday, Oommen Chandy said the CPM and the LDF were functioning under the framework of democracy. “The CPM should introspect whether it was right to intimidate a democratically elected Chief Minister. If they block me from performing my duty as a Chief Minister, it would not be the police but the people who would act against them,” Chandy said.
“They are committed to democratic principles. They are expected to function in a democratic manner. Now it is their turn to introspect whether they are following the right path,” he said. When pointed out that Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the CPM or the LDF had no role in the attack on the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy said if Pinarayi Vijayan was telling the truth, he would be the happiest as it would be a great thing for the CPM to shun violence.
He clarified that even if the LDF blocked his official residence he would not be giving nod for police action.
“We will not take law into our own hands to respond to them. There will not be any over reaction from the part of the government,” he said. Asked whether he shared the view of UDF convenor P P Thankachan that there was a nexus between the LDF leaders and a section of police officials in Kannur, which led to the lapses leading to the attack on the Chief Minister, he said what the UDF convenor had said on the police officials might be on the basis of the information he had received.
Oommen Chandy said he did not think that there was any need for further strengthening his security. Answering the queries on the statement made by Sreedharan Nair accusing the Chief Minister of recommending him to invest in the solar project of Saritha S Nair, the Chief Minister said it was one of the five statements Sreedharan Nair had made so far on the issue. “The circumstances in which he had changed the statements five times should have been probed,” the Chief Minister said.
He pointed out that what had been represented in the media was according to their own requirements. The Chief Minister said, for the time being , he would not tell what had prompted Sreedharan Nair to make statements implicating him. “One day I will reveal what has been actually prompting Sreedharan Nair to make such statements,” Chandy said.
However, he did not divulge much in spite of repeated queries. Asked whether Sreedharan Nair was making the statements under pressure from any quarters, the Chief Minister said Sreedharan Nair might be making the statements on his own.
Referring to the denial of permission to Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to visit the Chief Minister in the Medical College Hospital, Chandy said they had asked whether they could come and meet him. But as there were large number of visitors and they had not been allowed to meet him at that time, the Home Minister had asked the CPM leaders whether they could postpone the visit. “And they had not insisted on the visit,” he said. “I had completed 50 years of public life. During this period, I had gone to Kannur many times. Most of those visits were to meet my party workers who had been the victims of the CPM atrocities against them. Compared to their sorrow, the attack on me is not that important,” Chandy said