CPI(M) veteran V S Achuthanandan today asked Left leaders to exercise caution while making statements as media is "under pressure" to generate news with assembly polls round the corner.
Achuthanandan's remark came a day after party politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan's remarks on a resolution passed by the party against Achuthanandan in 2015, triggered a row.
"This is a period when media is under pressure to create reports. It is enough to incite controversies. So, left leaders should be very careful while expressing opinions," Achuthanandan said in his facebook posting.
He said he was clarifying his views in the facebook post after certain news reports emerged that Vijayan had made some unsavoury comments about him.
"I also read that Vijayan had stated that he has not made any such remarks and media had put words in his mouth. Naturally, the row should have ended there. But it seems controversy was growing", the 93-year-old former Chief Minister said.
Pointing at the allegations of corruption in the five-year -rule of the Congress led UDF government, the Marxist leader said LDF's political responsibility now was to "dislodge" it and install a people's friendly government in the state.
"Myself and CPI(M) leaders, including Pinarayi Vijayan, have taken this mission with one mind. So I am reiterating that even by a slip, Left leaders should not make statements that would create a misunderstanding", he said.
"The highly demoralised UDF and BJP would use it as a weapon to attack the LDF", he said.
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Meanwhile, Vijayan said in Kollam that he had not said anywhere that Achutanandan was anti-party.
"I replied to a question of a journalist. It was a politically loaded question, part of an agenda to destroy LDF", he alleged.
The aim was to weaken the LDF which was unitedly campaigning for the May 16 polls. "A section of the media had distorted my words", he said.
KPCC President V M Sudheeran told reporters that "when LDF comes to power, first they will target VS (Achuthanandan)".
"Everyone knows what Pinarayi Vijayan meant when he stated his controversial remarks on VS. This is the era of visual media and everyone has heard what Vijayan said. There is no need to criticise media on that score", he said.
