Kannur (Kerala) | Ruling CPI(M) leader and Mattannur MLA K K Shailaja on Tuesday justified her participation in the public send-off organised for a group of party workers convicted in a 1994 attack on the BJP's newly elected Rajya Sabha MP C Sadanandan Master.
When reporters sought her reaction to the criticism against her, the former health minister said it was not at all a send-off as portrayed by the media, and she participated as a party worker on Monday.
The court has convicted the eight party workers in the 30-year-old case. The local residents here very much know that they have not been involved in any such criminal activities, she claimed.
Shailaja further said that a teacher and a government official were among those convicted in the case, and some of them were not even active in politics during the time of the incident.
"But the court has convicted them now in the case, and they are now going to jail after 30 years. Their families are also very much in sorrow," she said.
Stating that it was a fact that she was present, the MLA, however, said it was not a public send-off given to them as propagated by the media.
The senior leader's justification came a day after Master strongly condemned the send-off, calling it "unfortunate" and "regrettable".
"At a time when party workers are involved in criminal cases, Shailaja's approach encourages them to commit more such acts, which is highly regrettable," he had said.
A senior BJP leader from the politically volatile Kannur district, Master is a survivor of political violence. His legs were severed in an alleged attack by CPI(M) workers in 1994.
An appeal filed by the Left workers against the conviction by the High Court in the 30-year-old case was rejected by the Supreme Court recently.
The convicts surrendered before the Thalassery Sessions Court on Monday.
"Lal salam comrades," the Left workers shouted in unison when the convicts were taken to the police vehicle.
The convicts were subsequently shifted to Kannur Central Prison.
