Complaint against Kerala CPI-M leader for sexist remarks

Representational image

Palakkad: Congress candidate from Kerala's Alathur constituency, Remya Haridas, on Tuesday, filed a police complaint against Left Democratic Front convenor A. Vijayaraghavan for his "sexist" and "lewd" remarks against her.

"I came to know about the lewd remarks made by Vijayaraghavan aimed at me on Monday night. It is not a slip of tongue but he has been repeating the same comments to malign my image," Haridas told the media after filing the complaint.

"The CPI-M, on one hand, claims to fight for women's rights but on the other hand, a senior party leader like Vijayaraghavan has been spreading abuses about me," she added.

"I am surprised that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who often speaks of women's upliftment, is silent on the matter," she said.

At a rally near on Monday, Vijayaraghavan, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader, had said that the "lady candidate from Alathur" had called on Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leaders like Panakkad Sayyid Hyderali Shihab Thangal and P.K. Kunhalikutty and "I do not know what will happen to her now".

Kunhalikutty was haunted for over a decade by an alleged sexual assault case before it was cleared by the apex court.

Congress leaders including Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, State Congress President Mullapally Ramachandran and All India Congress Committee General Secretary Oommen Chandy also demanded strict action against Vijayaraghavan.

But Vijayaraghavan and the CPI-M dismissed the criticism.

"I am not such a person who will pain anyone by insinuations and I assure Haridas that she need not worry about it. There is nothing personal in it and it was only a political speech," said Vijayaraghavan, who has earlier been a member of both the houses of the Parliament.

Haridas' CPI-M opponent, P.K. Biju, who is aiming for a hat-trick win this time, claimed that "baseless things" are being raked up by the Congress as they know they are on a back foot.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates