Thiruvananthapuram, August 2: Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheeshan is under fire from leftist leaders after attending a lunch hosted by Faisal Bafaki Thangal, vice president of the Muslim Youth League, in Ponnani. This event took place while several regions in the state were grappling with heavy rainfall and emergency weather conditions.
The controversy erupted when Faisal shared photos and videos of the gathering on Facebook. These posts quickly went viral, prompting critics to question the appropriateness of the Chief Minister’s attendance at such a gathering amid reports of rain-related incidents, flooding, and other disruptions across various districts.
CPI(M) leaders, including MLA V.K. Prashanth and Rajya Sabha member A.A. Rahim, criticized Satheeshan, accusing him of failing to demonstrate the expected level of engagement from the head of the government during adverse weather conditions.
In a Facebook post, Rahim compared Satheeshan’s actions to those of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had canceled scheduled events during similar situations to focus on rescue, relief, and disaster management efforts. Rahim also highlighted Satheeshan’s responsibilities within the state’s disaster management framework, questioning his decision to attend the lunch despite the hardships faced by many due to the rain.
The government and district administration are closely monitoring sensitive areas following heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides in parts of Kerala, making this criticism particularly timely.
As of now, Satheeshan has not publicly responded to the backlash. However, close sources to the Chief Minister dismissed claims that he specifically attended the event in Ponnani. They clarified that Satheeshan visited the residence of ailing senior Congress leader C. Haridas and had lunch there, as Thangal resides nearby. They emphasized that the lunch was an incidental part of his visit and should not be interpreted as prioritizing a social event over disaster management responsibilities.
This incident has sparked a political controversy, with the opposition attempting to leverage the photos from the gathering to question the Chief Minister’s priorities during the ongoing weather crisis.
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