Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb, who is in Kerala to campaign for the Chengannur byelection, criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for 'ignoring' the family of Sreejith, who died recently in police custody.
Announcing an aid of Rs 5 lakh to Sreejith's family in Ernakulam, Deb told THE WEEK, “Will such an incident happen in any other state in the country? Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has the audacity to not visit Sreejith’s family even once. What prevents him from visiting Sreejith’s family? Is it wrong to have loyalties to the BJP in Kerala, to be shunned in this manner? Let me say it very clearly that the people of Tripura are firmly with Sreejith’s family.”
The Tripura government will hand over the money for Sreejith’s family to the Kerala unit of the BJP in a few days.
In a case of mistaken identity, Sreejith was taken into custody on April 6 in a house-attack case. He was allegedly subjected to custodial torture and died while undergoing treatment on April 9.
The CPI(M)-led LDF government and the police came under fire for Sreejith's alleged custodial death. Following this, the police officers responsible for the incident were suspended from service and cases were charged against them. The Kerala government also gave Rs 10 lakh as compensation to his family and offered a government job to his wife Akhila.
Said Deb, “The CPI(M)-led government in Kerala is least bothered about the welfare of the weaker sections of society in the state. It is an anti-dalit government like all communist governments. I want the people of Kerala to remain vigilant against the divisive and cruel politics of the CPI(M).”
Deb said Vijayan will meet the same fate as Tripura’s Manik Sarkar. “I will help the people of the state and the BJP in removing Vijayan from the seat of power. Such an arrogant chief minister is of no use to Malayalis. I am sure there will be a saffron wave in Kerala in 2021, like in Tripura in 2018.”
CPI(M) politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai, however, dismissed Deb's remarks. “Isn’t he [Deb] the same fellow who is known to make notorious and foolish remarks? He is living in his own dream world. The CPI(M) will win comfortably in Chengannur,” Pillai told THE WEEK.
Deb was, reportedly, summoned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently for embarrassing the party with a slew of controversial statements. From saying that internet existed in the days of Mahabharata to urging civil engineers—not mechanical engineers—to join civil services, from threatening to pull out the nails of the critics of the BJP government in Tripura to advising the youth of his state to open paan shops or raise cows and sell milk instead of running after government jobs, Deb has been trolled widely on social media for his remarks.
Deb said people of Kerala and Tripura have so many similarities. “We have more or less the same food habits, weather and standard of education. Communists created havoc in Tripura over the years. They are doing the same in Kerala. People of Tripura were smart enough to remove the communist government in their state. Now it is the turn of people of Kerala.”
Deb said he will be visiting Kerala more often. “I am coming to Kannur after some months to attend various programmes in support of our party’s martyrs. I am with them and their families. I like Kerala and Malayalis. I am sure I will be able to spread the message of my party in Kerala in the same manner that I did in Tripura. I will help the BJP in the state in every manner that I can.”
He said Malayalis are transforming gulf cities like Dubai. “But they are not in a position to transform and develop Kerala’s own cities like Kochi, Calicut and Thiruvananthapuram, which is strange. Kochi is not yet a fully developed city. Why so? It is the Communists who are stopping the state from developing by creating roadblocks every now and then. Kerala should attract more investments and jobs and be one of the most developed states in the country. Only a BJP government here can help achieve it.”
Said BJP’s Kerala president Kummanam Rajasekharan, “Biplab is a historic hero who ended the CPI(M)’s tyrannical rule in Tripura. His visit to Kerala and Chengannur will turn tides in Kerala. It will lead to social transformation.”
Deb will be campaigning in Chengannur today and tomorrow. The constituency is witnessing a three-cornered fight. In the 2016 assembly elections, it was one of the eight constituencies in Kerala where the BJP won over 40,000 votes. The BJP candidate—P.S. Sreedharan Pillai—got 42,682 votes, around 2,000 votes less than the Congress candidate.
An election here was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA K.K. Ramachandran Nair. The election in Chengannur will be held on May 28, and results will be out on May 31.