Thiruvananthapuram | Congress leader V D Satheesan on Friday said that the UDF welcomes the state government's decision to allocate land for a memorial institute in the name of late Kerala Congress (M) party founder K M Mani.

Satheesan said that he was happy with the decision of the government led by CPI(M) whose leaders had at one time allegedly remarked that Mani, a former state finance minister, should "burn in hell".

Kerala Congress (M) which was part of the UDF when Mani was alive, later joined the LDF after his death.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly said that those who made disparaging comments against Mani had now allocated land for a memorial institute in his name.

"We are happy that we were the reason for the same," he contended without elaborating.

When reporters sought his view regarding allegations that another Sabrimala temple artefact -- "vaji vahanam" -- was illegally handed over to the then tantri when the UDF was in power in the state, Satheesan said that such claims will not be able to hide the issue of the loss of gold from the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

He claimed that the CPI(M) was trying all possible methods to bury the issue and even dragged Congress leader Sonia Gandhi into it. "But despite all these efforts, they cannot hide the issue," Satheesan asserted.

He also accused the CPI(M) of protecting the persons who are in jail currently for allegedly stealing the gold of Lord Ayyappa.

Regarding former CPI(M) leader Aisha Potty joining the Congress, the opposition leader said that the Left party was sad over the development. "But they are not sad that many of their leaders have joined the BJP," he claimed.

He further claimed that those handling the CPI(M)'s social media groups and profiles were spreading the fake news that Congress leader Shanimol Usman was going to join the Left party.