THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after Congress leader K Sudhakaran’s remarks on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan drew sharp criticism even from within the party, Congress leaders on Friday rallied behind him swallowing their own words. While urging that the row over the controversial comment of Sudhakaran comparing Pinarayi Vijayan to the "son of a toddy tapper" be put to an end, AICC organising general secretary K C Venugopal said the comment was not casteist and maintained that it was local slang.
The Chief Minister himself justified the local dialects of CPM leaders and ministers like M M Mani and G Sudhakaran when they criticised opponents using local slang. Sudhakaran himself clarified that his comment was not aimed at insulting any particular caste. So the row over remarks has to be ended with his explanation, he said. But he maintained that leaders should consult within the party before making public comments, he added.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, who on Thursday stressed the need to avoid such usage without naming Sudhakaran, on Friday made a somersault stating that there was nothing wrong in the remarks. He also maintained that his remarks against the comments of Sudhakaran on Thursday were a reply to a question by mediapersons.
Interestingly, woman Congress MLA Shanimol Usman who was the first to react to the controversy on Friday apologized to Sudhakaran. In her statement posted on Facebook, Shanimol maintained that she should not have reacted in haste and apologized for creating distress to Sudhakaran and party workers. She also said her remarks against Sudhakaran on Thursday were not influenced by any party leader.
Reinvigorated by the apology and somersaults of senior leaders, Sudhakaran, while accepting the apologies and thumbs up from them, said Pinarayi Vijayan once criticised the father of KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran terming him as ‘Attamparthi Gopalan’ though he had fought for the freedom for the country. Pinarayi Vijayan doesn’t deserve any respect as he had used words like 'scoundrel' (paranari) and called a bishop a “wretched creature”, he added.