Kalpetta: Agriculture Minister T Siddique on Monday dismissed the controversy over his reported move to appoint Pranav C Hari, alleged to be his wife's business partner, as a member of his personal staff, saying the criticism was politically motivated and ignored the youth's credentials and public service.

Addressing a press conference here, Siddique dismissed the 'business partner' tag and said it was unfortunate that attempts were being made to portray Pranav in a bad light while overlooking his contributions to various social initiatives.

"Pranav is not a new face in my team. He has been the backbone of the 'MLA Care' project launched after the Mundakkai–Chooralmala landslide, coordinating educational support and welfare initiatives for children from the affected families," the Minister said.

The controversy arose following reports in a section of the media that objections had been raised before the Chief Minister's Office by his own party men over the proposed appointment of a person with no political or party background to a key position in the Minister's personal staff.

According to Siddique, the volunteer team led by Pranav had mobilised huge funds through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding under the MLA Care initiative, providing educational assistance to more than 300 students, including some pursuing higher studies abroad.

Highlighting Pranav's academic and professional qualifications, Siddique said he was an LLB rank holder from Amity University, New Delhi, and had completed his LLM from the same university. He also holds postgraduate diplomas in Cyber Security and Intellectual Property Rights from the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi. In addition, Pranav also secured top rank in professional certification programmes in Quality Management and Risk Management offered by the British Standards Institution.

"Is it wrong on my part to include in my team such a promising youth whom I believe can bring positive changes to the system?" the Minister asked. Siddique clarified that he had not yet recommended Pranav's name to the Chief Minister for appointment, as discussions with him were still underway.