Labour minister to send legal notice to DCC chief

Kerala Labour Minister Shibu Baby John today expressed unhappiness at the remarks by Kozhikode DCC President K C Abu in connection with the March 13 incidents in the assembly and said he would send a legal notice to him for the damage done to his reputation.
The Minister said he had conveyed his feelings to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC President V M Sudheeran and had sought action agains Abu.
"The remarks cannot be accepted. It has harmed my reputation since my name has been dragged unwarrantly...I will be sending a lawyer's notice to him," he told reporters at Kollam.

Abu had waded into controversy yesterday when he stated that LDF MLA E S Bijimol "seemed to be enjoying when Labour Minister Shibu Baby John blocked her way during the commotion in the House" during the March 13 violence.
Following a strict directive from the KPCC President, Abu had later retracted and apologised.
Chandy told reporters at Thrissur today that the minister had complained to him over phone. "I was travelling... Shibu told me over phone about his unhappiness regarding the unsavory remarks of Abu."

"The remarks are unbecoming of a Congress worker. It is very unfortunate that such a statement was made," he said.

Refusing to be drawn into further controversies over his remarks, Abu told reporters at Kozhikode that "silence is bliss". "You people know more about the March 13 violence in the assembly than me. I don't want to speak about it. I am not a man of controversies, I am an obedient party worker."
M A Wahid, another Congress MLA who also had made similar remarks at a public speech, has apologised to Bijimol, saying that his remarks were not intentional.
Meanwhile, Bijimol also filed a complaint to the DGP and submitted a copy of the complaint to the City Police Commissioner, stating that the defamatory public statements had 'tarnished' her image.