Achuthanandan

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 3: Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan has regretted his remarks about the family of slain commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, but not before alleging that his party boss was misled by false propaganda and starting a fresh controversy over his use of words.

Achuthanandan said CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, who had yesterday expressed regret over the chief minister’s remarks, had spoken under the weight of “false propaganda” unleashed by the Congress, BJP and a section of the media.

Turned away from the door of the NSG commando’s house in Bangalore on Sunday by his father, the chief minister had said: “Not a dog would have visited the residence had it not been for the slain officer.”

The comment sparked a furore and the Congress-led Opposition raised the issue in the Assembly today.

Achuthanandan said he regretted it if people were misled by references wrongly attributed to him. But the Opposition demanded an unconditional apology.

The chief minister hit out at Opposition leader Oommen Chandy, who told him not to teach the Opposition how it should behave in the House.

“Oooommen Chandy,” he taunted the Opposition leader, “then don’t try to teach how we should govern.” Stretched like that, the name sounds like an abuse in Malayalam.

Achuthanandan added: “I did not make the ‘dog’ reference. It came from the other side. And those who had made the reference will swallow it.” The Opposition alleged that he referred to the canine genitals before uttering the word “swallow”. As sparks flew, the Opposition asked the chief minister to quit rather than heap further disgrace on the office he held.

The Opposition trooped out of the House, with Kerala Congress parliamentary party leader K.M. Mani repeating for the public the twist Achuthanandan gave to Oommen Chandy’s name.

Outside the Assembly, the chief minister called a news conference and distributed a note: “If my comments have hurt Major Unnikrishnan’s family, I’m sorry and I regret it.”

In Bangalore, the dead commando’s family said the controversy was a “closed chapter”, adds PTI. “There is no problem whatsoever. The Unnikrishnan family also regrets certain developments that happened when the chief minister visited their house. Those things need not be taken any further. It is a closed chapter,” said Krishnan, a family friend.

Efforts to contact Sandeep’s father failed as family members said “he is sleeping and does not want to react”.

In the evening, the Kerala government announced it would give Rs 15 lakh to the slain officer’s family.