Pinarayi Vijayan called the comments by Mullappally Ramachandran against KK Shailaja "anti-women"
In a scathing attack against the Congress in the state, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan questioned if the motive of the protests or insults by office bearers of the party in the state was "witch-hunting". His remarks come after the state Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran mocked Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, calling her "COVID Rani". The senior leader had earlier called her "Nipah Rajkumari" during the deadly outbreak in 2018.
"I'm not speaking against the remarks made by Congress out of political difference. What are some of the insults made by leaders in responsible positions against Kerala's health minister who is at the forefront of efforts to tackle COVID-19. What is the provocation? Isn't this an attempt to witch-hunt her? People are not going to accept this," the Chief Minister said.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president had alleged Ms Shailaja was trying to "win titles" and visited Kozhikode during the Nipah outbreak in 2018 as a "guest artist".
"The outrage against KK Shailaja is stemming from a particular mindset. That is anti-women. Is this how you see women? It's unfortunate that the KPCC president has fallen to the level to think that words like this would bring applause from supporters or grab headlines," Mr Vijayan told the media today.
The CPI(M) which heads the ruling coalition in Kerala has sought a public apology from Mullappally Ramachandran.
Mr Ramachandran has however said he has said nothing wrong and that he is not going to apologise.
"What I have said is right. I stand by my words and have not insulted anyone. I am not going to apologise," Mr Ramachandran said a day after his comments were deemed sexist and kicked up a storm, news agency PTI reported.
Pinarayi Vijayan also alleged the opposition is trying to derail work against coronavirus by attacking the health minister.
"The system is trying everything possible to avoid a community spread. They (opposition) are trying to see if the activities can be derailed by singling out and attacking the minister. I have only one thing to say, don't play politics with the lives of the people. The lives of the people are important," Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Kerala on Saturday registered 127 COVID 19 cases - the highest cases registered in the state in a single day. Kerala has 3039 confirmed cases and 21 deaths so far.
With inputs from PTI
