Thiruvananthapuram: IAS officer Divya S Iyer has stood by her social media post praising CPM leader and former Chief Minister’s private secretary K K Ragesh, despite facing sharp criticism from several Congress leaders. Iyer maintained that she has no intention of withdrawing the post or offering further clarification, asserting that her praise was not for Ragesh’s political role but for his conduct as a government official.

The controversy erupted after Iyer, currently serving as the Cultural Director and MD of Vizhinjam Port, posted on Instagram comparing Ragesh’s loyalty and administrative skills to Karna’s shield in the Mahabharata. She also shared a photo of him with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, stating that she had imbibed several positive qualities from Ragesh during her tenure working closely with him.

Her post, which quickly went viral, drew criticism from various Congress leaders, including K Muraleedharan, Rahul Mamkoottathil, and Youth Congress Kannur district secretary Vijil Mohan. Critics alleged that her remarks violated civil service rules and demonstrated undue allegiance to the ruling CPM. Muraleedharan said Iyer was displaying “servitude” to the Chief Minister, warning that such conduct could affect her career.

Vijil Mohan, in a Facebook post, said that Iyer drew her salary from the government, not from the CPM’s AKG Centre, and said she was compromising the neutrality expected of a civil servant.

In response, Iyer later released a video explaining her position, reiterating her appreciation for Ragesh’s respectful conduct and administrative guidance, while denying any political motive.

Backing the IAS officer, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday denounced the backlash as "patriarchal." Speaking at a press conference, he said that the criticism stemmed from expectations that Iyer should echo the political views of her husband, Congress leader and former MLA K S Sabarinathan.

"As part of this extreme form of male-dominated thinking, they believe that she should not have a stand different from that of her husband," Vijayan said, calling the remarks against her “words of immature minds.”