Satheesan asks Saji Cherian to apologise for branding Chellanam protestors as ‘bearded goons’

Kochi: Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan has slammed Minister for Fisheries Saji Cherian for branding those who protested against him at Chellanam as goons. The Congress leader said the minister should apologise and withdraw his remarks.

"Since when did the fisherfolk start looking like goons to the fisheries minister? What could be Kerala's state of affairs if a minister starts thinking all people with a beard are goons? The minister said that the bearded people looked like goons, and only from the newspapers did he understand that they were protestors.

''The people who live in the area where sea surge is severe decided to wave black flags at the minister since the government has not been ready to help them by improving measures to resist sea incursion," Satheesan told reporters in Kochi.

Satheesan was reacting to Saji Cherian's remarks against the Youth Congress activists who protested against him during a public event at Chellanam recently. The residents of Chellanam, backed by opposition parties and church leadership, have been demanding completion of the seawall project along the Chellanam coasts battered by sea incursion.

The opposition leader continued the attack against Health Minister Veena George over the disclosure by a senior doctor of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College about the shortage of surgical equipment in the hospital.

"News reports coming from various medical colleges have exposed the minister's claims. Yesterday, the minister said that purchases can't be made in government hospitals at the same pace as in private hospitals. The delay has been persisting for 2-3 years. The opposition has repeatedly raised this issue. Government hospitals usually submit purchase intents for a year to the Medical Services Corporation.

The corporation issues a tender based on that and buys the required items. Nothing of this has been happening for a while. Even the plan fund has been slashed. Still, the finance minister claims that there is no financial crisis in the state,” he said.