Thiruvananthapuram, Congress' Kerala unit President K. Sudhakaran on Monday slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his "inept" handling of the Home portfolio and also the media for not "exposing the way governance is going on in the state".
He was referring to the double murders in Palakkad last week when in less than 24 hours, a SDPI activist was murdered by suspected RSS workers and then, an RSS leader was hacked to death by suspected SDPI workers.
"It's high time for Vijayan, if he has any shame left in him, to quit as Home Minister as in the past three years, according to figures, the state witnessed 1,065 murders. Even the CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has dropped enough hints that Vijayan is incapable of handling the present standoff between the SDPI and the RSS," said Sudhakaran.
Then, Sudhakaran, who is known for his acerbic tongue, burst out against the media for "glorifying" Vijayan.
"Vijayan has proved to be a totally inefficient administrator as he has been unable to do justice to any departments, but the media, after taking the advertisements, have glorified him. It has come to a stage that the media goes for his press meets with stage-managed questions and that are asked only. The media does not even asks any pointed questions, even as Vijayan is one who cannot face a press meet when sharp and pointed questions come, but the media does not ask. The media is taking the people of the state for ride," he alleged.
Both Sudhakaran and Vijayan hail from Kannur but are staunch rivals who do not let go any opportunity to denigrate each other.