The Hindu : Kerala News : NSS chief misunderstood me: Balakrishna Pillai

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

NSS chief misunderstood me: Balakrishna Pillai

By Our Staff Reporter

KOLLAM, MAY 4. The Kerala Congress(B) leader and Transport Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai, has said the criticism against him by the general secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS), P.K. Narayana Panikkar, is without fully understanding the facts.

Talking to presspersons at his residence at Kottarakara today, Mr. Pillai said a meeting of the NSS Pathanapuram taluk union, of which he is the president, had not taken any stand against the equidistance policy of the NSS. On the contrary, the unruly scene at the meeting was the result of a conspiracy hatched by those politically opposed to him, Mr. Pillai said. He wondered whether those who created trouble at the meeting were actually NSS members.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pillai was highly critical of the CMP leader and Minister for Cooperation, M.V. Raghavan. At a public meeting at Kottarakara yesterday, Mr. Raghavan had blasted Mr. Pillai for the latter's stand against the UDF candidate from Adoor, Kodikunnil Suresh. Reacting to the attack, Mr. Pillai termed Mr. Raghavan as a ``blunt axe'' who was thrown out of the CPI(M) but was fortunate enough to get a new lease of political career due to the magnanimity shown by the senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran. However, Mr. Raghavan had now started lampooning Mr. Karunakaran. Such negative credentials had already been diagnosed by the voters at Adoor, Mr. Pillai said.

He said that Mr. Raghavan, who will not be able to win an election from even a ward at Kottarakara, had only damaged further the prospects of the UDF candidate from Adoor through the address yesterday. The KC(B) leader said that he in no way campaigned against the UDF candidate at Adoor. He was only keeping away from the campaign and had reasons for that. He alleged that Mr. Suresh had hurt the sentiments of the `I' group cadres within the KPCC and the KC(B) cadres on many occasions in the past. That would have its own effects against the UDF candidate at Adoor, he said.

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