KSU State President Hits Back at V D Satheesan Over Government Pleader Appointment Row

Thiruvananthapuram: KSU state president Aloysius Xavier has sharply responded to Chief Minister V D Satheesan's dismissive remark questioning KSU's right to comment on the appointment of a Government Pleader. He asked what was wrong with KSU expressing concern over the controversy, saying the organisation would convey its anxieties to the Chief Minister, reflecting the sentiments of those who had fought on Keralam's streets for the past ten years.

Former KSU unit presidents at Thiruvananthapuram Law College had earlier voiced concern over the Government Pleader appointment. Aloysius said this represents the anxiety of all KSU members and the state committee cannot pretend otherwise. He said the Chief Minister should have been more careful in his response to KSU, and that the organisation would meet him in person to convey its stand on the appointments made by the government.

When asked about KSU's criticism of the appointment of a person with active RSS links as Government Pleader, Satheesan had said: "Is it KSU in Thiruvananthapuram that appoints the Government Pleader? What does KSU have to do with the Government Pleader appointment? Nothing at all. They have no business in this matter."

D S Sharath, a native of Thazhakara, Mavelikkara and an active RSS worker, was appointed as Senior Government Pleader based on a note from V D Satheesan. His name appeared in a list of 31 appointments released on July 8. Sharath, who was an ABVP leader at Thrissur Government Law College between 2004 and 2009, regularly appears in cases where RSS members are accused. Following this, members of the Congress lawyers' wing, Indian Lawyers' Congress, came out with sharp criticism against the government and the Chief Minister, with internal tensions within the Lawyers' Congress also surfacing in the open.