THRISSUR: After the Youth Congress, it was the turn of the Cultural Affairs Minister to cry foul of actor Suresh Gopi’s alleged remarks against Chief Minister Ommen Chandy over the proposed Aranmula airport.
Coming down heavily on the actor for his alleged remarks against the Chief Minister, Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph on Friday said Suresh Gopi is used to changing his colour and policies in tune with the change of guard at the Centre. He was speaking after inaugurating the Malayalam-Arabic literary fest at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi in Thrissur.
His outburst against the Chief Minister was equal to disgracing the state and his remarks were below standard and shameful, the minister said. The actor should have remembered that after all Chandy is the elected Chief Minister, irrespective of his political leanings.
At a time when the minister was addressing the media, the Youth Congress activists staged a protest march to the Jose Theatre, where the Suresh Gopi-starred film ‘Appothikkiri’ was being screened, raising slogans against the actor and stalled the screening of the movie.
Earlier, at a function organised by the Kerala Children’s Literature Institute, the actor had said that whether the Chief Minister was not in the know of things, he should try to learn from people who have knowledge before making a comment in public. Following his comment, Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose flayed the actor in strong terms and stated that the actor need not impart lessons to a mass leader like Chandy. The YC activists had also tried to disrupt the screening of Suresh Gopi’s movie.
Criticism on Media
Speaking on the sidelines of another function, the Cultural Affairs Minister also flayed the media, electronic media in particular, stating that news were being created by the media houses by often disregarding the facts. While print media were often maintaining their standard, the electronic media were turning a blind eye to the reality, he said. The electronic media have recently made me Speaker of the house and K M Mani as the Chief Minister of the state, the minister added.