Thiruvananthapuram: One of the senior leaders in the ruling Congress party in Kerala, V.M. Sudheeran has unleashed severe criticism against the top leadership in the state, alleging that there are some in the state cabinet who are “incapable of anything”.
The criticism from within the Congress comes at a time when the Congress-led ruling United Democratic Front in the state is seen as becoming a stable government after its recent win in the Neyyattinkara assembly by-election, and getting a political boost as the Opposition Communist Party of India Marxist got its image tarnished when a number of its members were arrested in connection with the murder of rebel communist leader T.P. Chandrasekharan.
Sudheeran, who has in the past been seen as one of the upright leaders in the party alongside A.K. Antony who is now the federal defence minister, did not mince words in his criticism of the state’s top leadership. He said some of the ministers were held captive by their personal staff, while others were incapable of performing in their portfolios. However, he gave some credit to the leadership, saying there were some competent ministers in the cabinet.
Ironically, Sudheeran’s comments came during a leadership training programme for Youth Congress members. Sudheeran had last week asked the state power regulatory commission to take a relook at the decision to hike power tariff by 30 per cent, and also hinted that the state government was not doing enough to rein in the real estate mafia.
