Personal insults unacceptable, Vijayan hits back at Revanth Reddy

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hit back at Telangana CM Revanth Reddy over his “Nee po mone Vijaya” remark during a Kerala campaign. The exchange has escalated political tensions ahead of the April 9 Assembly elections in the State

Kannur (Kerala): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hit back at his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy as the verbal war between the two leaders took a sharper turn.

Reacting to earlier remarks made by Reddy at a meet-the-press programme here, the veteran Marxist leader said that a chief minister must maintain basic standards of conduct and questioned whether such dignity was being followed.

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Without going into a detailed reply, the Chief Minister said that he would respond at the right time.

In his response to the media to a query, Vijayan used words that were seen as nearly derogatory in Malayalam to call Reddy, signalling his strong disapproval of the remarks made against him.

Sharply reacting to the CM’s objectionable remarks, Congress leader VD Satheesan said Vijayan appeared to have “completely lost composure” and warned that any further deterioration in his conduct would have brought “greater embarrassment” to the State.

“Kerala would have had to bow its head in shame,” he said in a strongly-worded reaction.

In a sarcastic remark, the Congress leader also said he did not get time to advise Reddy to refrain from commenting on Vijayan, alleging that the Kerala CM tends to respond using “derogatory language”.

After the critical remarks during the press meet, Vijayan came up with a hard-hitting post on his ‘X’ handle stating that political differences are natural, but expressing strong disagreement through personally insulting remarks is an attitude that he rejects.

The Left veteran also said Reddy’s statements lack factual backing.

In a detailed letter attached with the ‘X’ post addressing the Telangana CM, Vijayan said the experience of the people of Kerala was “vastly different” from what Reddy had portrayed.

The Kerala CM clarified that he did not intend to engage in a debate over the performance of the Telangana government, stating that it was for the people of Telangana and political parties there to assess their government.

Referring to Reddy’s comments made during the election campaign in Kerala, Vijayan said the LDF government had been consistently publishing progress reports over the past 10 years on the implementation of its election promises, underlining its commitment to continuous accountability.

He also rejected the allegation of “selective appropriation” of Kerala’s achievements, including its top ranking in the NITI Aayog SDG Index, and said such criticism was misplaced.

Dismissing claims of industrial stagnation, Vijayan said Kerala has made significant strides in the startup ecosystem and ease of doing business, adding that these achievements have been widely acknowledged.

The Chief Minister also alleged that key infrastructure projects in Kerala, including the Kochi Metro and Vizhinjam Port, faced delays under previous Congress-led governments at the Centre, while long-pending promises such as a railway coach factory remained unfulfilled.

Vijayan further accused the BJP-led Union government of discrimination against Kerala and said the State has been actively resisting what he described as “anti-federal and undemocratic” policies through legal and political means, including approaching the Supreme Court.

He also rejected Reddy’s criticism that the LDF was not vocal enough against the BJP, asserting that Kerala has been at the forefront of defending constitutional values.

Concluding his letter, Vijayan reiterated the State government’s commitment to building a “Nava Keralam” and moving forward as a model for others.

The controversy began after Reddy used the words “nee po mone Vijaya” while referring to Vijayan on April 1 during a UDF campaign roadshow in Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram ahead of the Assembly polls.

Addressing party workers, he used the popular Malayalam film dialogue from ‘Narasimham’, starring Mohanlal.

Invoking the famous line “Nee po mone Dinesha”, he adapted it to target Vijayan, saying “Nee po mone Vijaya”, which drew loud cheers from the crowd.

Reddy went further, claiming that Vijayan’s “time is over” and that his “expiry date has passed”.

“Your time is over. Your expiry date is over. You don’t have any time to continue. Now, the UDF’s time has come,” he had said during the roadshow.

Responding to these allegations earlier, Vijayan had said that the Telangana CM was “misinformed” and accused him of “ridiculing” Kerala and its people while trying to hide the weaknesses of his own state.

In a later response, Reddy defended his remarks and said that many of the statistics cited by Vijayan were taken from the NITI Aayog SDG Index 2023 24, arguing that the data was already outdated.

Single-phase elections to the 140-seat Kerala Assembly will be held on April 9.