Kottayam (Kerala) | Veteran Congress leader V M Sudheeran on Saturday publicly praised KSU state president Aloshious Xavier and greeted him with a warm handshake amid reports of differences within the Congress over the appointment of a former SFI leader as a government pleader.

The former KPCC president's remarks came at the Oommen Chandy remembrance meeting here, where he invited Xavier, seated in a corner of the stage, to come to the speakers' podium and greeted him with a handshake.

Describing the Kerala Students' Union, the students' wing of the Congress party, as an organisation that speaks its mind with courage, Sudheeran urged Xavier to continue in the same spirit.

"The courage to express one's stand is the hallmark of the KSU. Continue with that courage. There may be difficulties at times, but don't take them too seriously," Sudheeran said during his address, without referring to any particular incident or controversy.

His gesture came amid reports of differences between Chief Minister V D Satheesan and the KSU over the appointment of a government pleader who was formerly associated with the Students' Federation of India, the students' wing of the CPI(M).

The move assumes significance against the backdrop of a controversy on social media and within Congress circles over claims that Satheesan had ignored Xavier during a college programme in Kochi earlier this week.

The controversy over the appointment of the government pleader erupted after Satheesan said on Wednesday that such appointments were made based on merit and recommendations, and that the government would not function under pressure from political or student organisations.

The Congress' student wing, KSU, has opposed the appointment, citing the appointee's past association with the Students' Federation of India.

On Friday, Xavier asserted that if a future UDF government considered his opposition to the appointment of a former SFI activist as a government pleader a "mistake", he would "repeat" it.