Thiruvananthapuram: The political storm over the alleged assault on state Health Minister Veena George intensified on Thursday after the Youth Congress filed a formal complaint with the State Police Chief against Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer, accusing him of spreading a “false narrative” that the activists had attacked the minister at Kannur railway station.
The complaint contends that Shamseer, who was not present at the exact spot where the alleged incident occurred, was the first to publicly declare that the minister had been attacked.
According to the Youth Congress, it was only after the Speaker met George on the railway platform and held a conversation with her that the claim of an assault gained traction.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V.D. Satheesan, on Thursday sharply criticised the Speaker’s conduct, stating that a person holding such a constitutional office should not have “resorted to spreading unverified claims”.
He argued that the Speaker’s early assertion shaped the narrative before any official verification or documentary evidence emerged.
“Till now, there has been no documentary evidence of any Youth Congress activist coming anywhere near the Minister,” Satheesan said.
He also took an aim at CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan, who had alleged that activists grabbed and twisted the minister’s neck.
“How can a person of Govindan’s stature spread such canards?” he asked.
The controversy has grown amid the absence of clear visual proof showing a direct assault.
While the ruling CPI(M) maintains that the attack was premeditated, the opposition insists that the narrative was amplified without substantiation.
With a police complaint now formally lodged and political tempers running high, the episode has evolved beyond a law and order issue into a larger debate over accountability, constitutional propriety, and the power of first claims in shaping public perception.
Meanwhile, the health minister is convalescing at the state-run Pariyaram Medical College hospital.
George was injured as the activists, protesting against her, clashed with police at the Kannur railway station. In the ensuing commotion, George reportedly came in between the protesters and the police. During the jostling that followed, she sustained injuries to her neck and hand.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the incident, saying that the KSU’s attack on the Health Minister Veena George was “a reflection of the Congress party’s deplorable political culture”.
(IANS)
