Thiruvananthapuram : Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan trained his guns on the V.D. Satheesan government over its handling of the rain and flood situation, questioning not only the administration’s response to the disaster but also the political sensitivity shown towards those who lost their homes and loved ones.
At a press conference on Wednesday that followed the familiar Pinarayi Vijayan format -- a lengthy exposition followed by a few questions and an abrupt end -- the former Chief Minister said it was unacceptable that ministers took more than 10 days to visit the homes of people grieving after the disaster.
For Vijayan, the delay was symptomatic of a government that, he suggested, had failed to understand the emotional and humanitarian dimensions of a crisis.
Relief and rehabilitation, he argued, could not be reduced to files, official meetings and government announcements when families were still coming to terms with their losses.
The criticism, however, carried its own political baggage.
Vijayan is hardly a stranger to criticism over the handling of disasters while in office.
During the Ockhi cyclone that battered Kerala’s coastal belt during his tenure as Chief Minister, he too came under fire over the timing of his visit to the affected areas.
The criticism was particularly sharp because families of fishermen who had gone missing were desperately seeking answers. And on that day, he had to return in a different vehicle to escape the ire.
Vijayan’s Wednesday press meet was not entirely about floods and the Satheesan government.
The Messi episode currently making headlines also made its customary appearance in the questions. However, he offered no elaborate explanation or extended no political argument. Just a crisp response, and he made it clear that there was nothing wrong in the Messi episode. The rest followed the established script.
When he appeared to have had enough, the microphone went off.
Vijayan, when he was at the helm for a decade, rarely met the media. But after losing power and taking over as Leader of Opposition, Vijayan makes it a point to meet the media at least once a week and some times more than that.
