Vellapally Natesan warns against induction of likely new minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a scathing attack on the likely induction of five-time legislator K.B. Ganesh Kumar into the cabinet of Pinarayi Vijayan, social leader and general secretary of the SNDP Yogam, Vellapally Natesan warned that it should not happen.

Kumar is a former State Minister too, but was in the Congress-led UDF, when his party Kerala Congress (B) was an ally, but in 2016 assembly polls his party became an ally of the CPI-M led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

“If the Pinarayi Vijayan government thinks they can improve the image of the government by bringing in Kumar, then it will bring more harm than good,” said Natesan.

“What credibility will be there if you bring in a person like Kumar who changes his wife like one changes a shirt. Moreover he is one who got a beating from his wife and along with his father who was also a Minister in the past have both ruined their portfolio. I am saying all this, because someone has to say it and hence,” added Natesan, known for his razor-sharp tongue.

Incidentally, the SNDP Yogam is a social organisation of the Hindu Ezhava community, while Kumar has recently been elevated to the director board of the Hindu Nair social organisation NSS.

For long, the SNDP and NSS have been at loggerheads with both taking potshots at each other.

The present impending cabinet re-shuffle is part of the agreement in the ruling LDF’s decision to share cabinet posts among parties having single MLAs.

Under that formula, Antony Raju was given the Transport portfolio and Ahamed Devarkovil took over the Ports department. As per the agreement, after the completion of 30 months in office, the two ministers are to make way for K.B. Ganesh Kumar (Raju) and veteran Kadanapally Ramachandran ( Devarkovil).

The time for that is fast approaching and hence Natesan decided to slam Kumar to spoil his chance, but it remains to be seen if Vijayan will take this objection seriously.