Minister Rajesh behind ad row, will move legally: Satheesan

Kasaragod: Opposition leader VD Satheesan alleged on Wednesday that minister MB Rajesh was behind the controversial advertisements published by LDF on the eve of Palakkad bypolls in two dailies run by Muslim organisations.

Speaking to the media in Kasaragod, Satheesan said even the chairman of LDF's election committee was not aware of the ads. CPI, which holds LDF's election committee chairman post, denounced the advertisements citing it would hurt communal sentiments. "But minister Rajesh is still justifying the ads, because he was responsible for the communal propaganda campaign," he alleged.

"Rajesh's claim is that they chose the two newspapers considering financial aspects. But CPM had published a four-page advertisement in a leading Malayalam newspaper earlier by spending lakhs of rupees. Hence, it is not believable that CPM was facing a financial crisis for advertisement. CPM deliberately attempted to trigger communal sentiments and it hurt the secular mind of Kerala," said Satheesan.

"CPM leaders have lost their mental balance following the huge electoral debacle in last Lok Sabha elections. They don't know what to say or what to do. They are fully controlled by BJP," he alleged.

Satheesan said CPM violated the election model code of conduct by publishing the advertisement. "A minister in state cabinet published an advertisement with an intention to trigger communal sentiments. Such practices cannot be allowed in Kerala. Hence, UDF will move legally against these ads," he said.

On chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's continuous attack against IUML state president Sadikkali Shihab Thangal, Satheesan said no one was against his criticizing Thangal. "Both CPM and BJP have the same tone while criticizing him. Thangal is a person who always upholds secular values," he added.