THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the derogatory remarks made by Forest Minister KB Ganesh Kumar against Opposition Leader VS Achuthanandan coming as a shock to the entire society as it was so unbecoming of a person with the stature of a Minister and also when it lead to violent Left protests across the state, those who know the politics or the history of his father R Balakrishna Pillai would not frown upon the son.While Kerala remembers the controversial Punjab-model speech of the father in the eighties, eventually costing his ministerial berth, the son has also joined the league with his gift of the gab, albeit in an abusive way.The irrepressible style of functioning of R Balakrishna Pillai, who still holds political ground in a select domain in the state while remaining in jail, as well as his son, has a good level of acceptance among the electorate in places such as Kottarakara and Pathanapuram Assembly segments, which are held as their pocket boroughs and noted for the concentration of the Nair community.The penchant for striking hard against political opponents was the forte of Pillai in his decades-long political career, while charting a solitary course with a splinter group of Kerala Congress in his name. Pillai had stayed afloat in the bipolar politics of the state with his family limited outfit being hitched to the UDF bandwagon.The feudal satrap that Pillai is, he used to ruffle feathers of many in his characteristic fashion, though it made more foes than friends in his political and community camp over the years. It was only after attracting a jail term that Pillai is forced to lie low. Ever since CPM leader V S Achuthanadan began to perform in a manner as if Pillai was his political enemy number one, Ganesh Kumar was also forced to follow the steps of his father and shower innuendos with equal punch upon the former.But Ganesh Kumar has knowingly or unknowingly took the extreme step of terming Achuthanandan as a sexual maniac and pervert, which he confesses now as outpourings of a desperate son, especially when the mammoth crowd in Pathanapuram provided the right push and mood on Thursday.For Pillai and Ganesh, who are already being politically-pilloried for their suspected role in the attack on a teacher of the school owned by them, the Pathanapuram speech may have its impact on the determination of even their political future on their turf.The Pillai and son factor proves that along with a few leaders in the Kerala Congress warp, troubled days are ahead for the UDF Government.Interestingly, if the onslaught against R Balakrishna Pillai for his Punjab-model speech was led by the then Youth Congress leader G Karthikeyan, Pillai’s son is trying to save his skin while the latter is in the Assembly Speaker’s chair.
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