Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Friday (October 17) launched a sharp attack on the State government and the police over the ongoing actions against Congress workers in Perambra following the assault on Shafi Parambil, MP.
“The SP himself admitted that the police assault on Shafi Parambil was unprovoked. Yet, the police have fabricated a false blast case to implicate Congress leaders and workers,” Mr. Satheesan told mediapersons in Thrissur.
He alleged that hundreds of police vehicles and personnel where deployed to raid houses at night and arrest innocent Congress workers “as if they were murder accused.”
“This kind of police action cannot be tolerated in a democracy,” Mr. Satheesan said.
Turning his attention to the Sabarimala gold theft case, Mr. Satheesan alleged that the arrest of Unnikrishnan Potti was much-delayed and that several political leaders and Devaswom Board members were also complicit in the theft.
“The High Court clearly observed that there was a deliberate attempt to cover up the incident. Former Devaswom Minister and board officials knew what was going on. Potti didn’t act alone. They all worked together to shield him,” he alleged.
He pointed out that former Minister Kadakampally Surendran publicly praising Potti as a “great Ayyappa devotee”.
“Potti was bought back so that they could continue with their business deals. The Board and the current Devaswom Minister tried to repeat the same scam. One fears the next target could even be the Ayyappa’s golden idol itself,” Mr. Satheesan said.
On KPCC reorganisation, Mr. Satheesan said the process was being done in consultation with the national leadership. “There’s only a concern that the list of secretaries hasn’t been announced yet. I hope it will include more young leaders and those who’ve struggled for the party,” he added.
Taking a dig at the CPI(M), Mr. Satheesan said that the Left party’s own State committee and secretariat have “more members than the KPCC list.”
“Before criticising us, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty should count how many are sitting in their own committees,” he quipped.
Published – October 17, 2025 05:46 pm IST
