Kochi, Dec 11 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan on Thursday launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accusing him of displaying contempt for democratic protest, shielding party leaders from serious allegations, and failing to recognise Kerala’s climate vulnerabilities in major development decisions.

Satheesan said the Chief Minister’s recent response to him was “shocking and of extremely poor quality”, adding that he preferred to believe “someone in the CM’s office wrote it” to impress cyber supporters as it’s election time.

The public, he said, would be surprised at the “collapse in standards”.

Satheesan’s central criticism was that the Chief Minister had adopted positions closer to the “Modi government”, especially by arguing that public protests amount to destruction.

A Communist leader taking such a stand, he said, reflected a shift “from Marxism to bourgeois politics”.

Defending UDF-led protests against projects such as K-Rail, Satheesan said environmental and climate concerns were at the heart of these agitations.

Kerala, he warned, was among the most climate-vulnerable regions, and any development ignoring environmental impact, such as embankments proposed for K-Rail, could invite disaster.

The CM, he alleged, was “25 years behind” in governance thinking. He also accused the government of “double standards” in handling sexual misconduct complaints.

A petition against former CPI(M) MLA P.T. Kunhumohammed reached the Chief Minister’s office on November 27 but was forwarded to the police only on December 2, with a case registered on December 8.

“Why was the complaint buried for 13 days?” Satheesan asked, arguing that complaints against Congress leaders had been processed immediately while those against CPI(M) members were delayed deliberately.

On the GAIL pipeline protests, Satheesan said the CM’s mockery of agitation was hypocritical, recalling that the government had accepted key demands, including a tenfold rise in compensation, only after protests intensified.

Responding to charges regarding Jamaat-e-Islami’s support to the UDF in the current polls, Satheesan pointed out that CPI(M) had enjoyed the same backing “for 42 years” and that several senior party leaders, including Pinarayi Vijayan, had engaged with the organisation.

He also highlighted the crisis in higher education, noting that nine universities currently lack Vice Chancellors, a situation he blamed on the “prolonged conflict” between the Governor and the state government.

–IANS

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