Congress leaders criticise Kerala CM’s remarks against Revanth Reddy

Senior Congress leaders on Wednesday criticised Pinarayi Vijayan for using language considered nearly derogatory against his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy, saying a chief minister should act as a role model and not set a “wrong example”.

The criticism comes amid an escalating war of words — both in public and online — between Vijayan and Reddy that turned acrimonious on Tuesday.

The controversy began after Reddy, during a UDF campaign roadshow in the Nemom constituency on 1 April, taunted the Kerala CM by saying “nee po mone Vijaya”, a twist on a popular dialogue from Narasimham. He went further to claim that Vijayan’s “time is over” and that his “expiry date has passed”.

Responding on Tuesday, Vijayan accused the Telangana CM of being “misinformed” and of “ridiculing” Kerala and its people while trying to hide shortcomings in his own state. He later used Malayalam expressions that were widely seen as nearly derogatory to describe Reddy, signalling strong disapproval of the remarks made against him.

Congress leaders intensified their criticism of Vijayan’s response. Senior leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who is contesting from the Kottayam assembly seat in the 9 April polls, remarked that “the CM thought that while he was on his way out, he may as well abuse someone”.

“Otherwise, a CM does not speak like that. He is a role model for others. If he uses derogatory words, imagine how people would react?” he said in an interview with a TV channel.

Another senior Congress leader and candidate from the Vattiyoorkavu assembly constituency, K. Muraleedharan, echoed similar concerns, stating that the chief minister was setting a poor example, especially for the younger generation.

“He should introspect whether what he did was right. What if tomorrow, some children use such words and justify it by saying they followed the CM? Just think,” he said.

Muraleedharan also alleged that Vijayan deliberately used such language to divert attention from controversies facing the Left government, including the Sabarimala gold loss issue and other allegations.

There was no immediate response from the ruling CPI(M) or the chief minister’s office to the Congress leaders’ criticism.

With PTI inputs