Be careful with opinions around 'under pressure' media: Achuthanandan warns LDF

Thiruvananthapuram: CPM veteran VS Achuthanandan on Thursday asked Left Democratic Front(LDF) 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. [caption id=“attachment_2076077” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Former Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan. AFP[/caption] He said he was clarifying his views in the 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,” he said. “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.