V Sivankutty Hits Back at Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Defends Minister Mohammed Riyas

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty has strongly criticised remarks made by BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar against Public Works and Tourism Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas, defending the latter’s political career and achievements.

Sivankutty said Riyas had built his political life through years of hard work and continuous struggles. Responding to attempts to belittle Riyas by referring to him as a “son-in-law,” the minister posed a counter-question to Chandrasekhar: whether he could explain his own legacy in public life and how he reached his current positions. “Did you rise through grassroots political work among the people, or by other means?” Sivankutty asked, urging the BJP to debate development issues based on facts rather than political rhetoric.

The minister also accused the BJP and the central government of engaging in petty politics and said the people of Kerala would give an appropriate response. He alleged that both the BJP and the Indian National Congress had historically obstructed national highway development in the state. According to him, several projects had stalled during the tenure of the UDF government, and it was the current LDF administration that revived them by allocating more than ₹5,000 crore for highway expansion.

Sivankutty further claimed that development projects faced resistance from the BJP, the Congress, and certain environmental groups in areas such as Keezhattoor, but the government had managed to overcome these obstacles to push forward infrastructure growth.

Highlighting Riyas’s political background, the minister said he began his political journey as a student leader with the SFI while studying in the eighth standard. During his pre-degree studies at Farook College, he served as a class representative and later became the college unit president in 1994. He subsequently held positions in the University of Calicut Union and went on to serve in leadership roles within DYFI, eventually becoming its national president in 2017. In 2021, he was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly from Beypore.

Sivankutty said such a political journey was not as simple as joining a party through a “missed call membership,” like BJP. He noted that Riyas had entered politics decades before his marriage in June 2020 to Veena, daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala.