On Manorama Lauds Veena George, Ridicules Opposition Walkout

Thiruvananthapuram: The tables have turned. The Congress mouthpiece and Malayalam daily have, for once, tipped their hats to the Health Department for containing the spread of amoebic meningoencephalitis. In its English website, On Manorama actually reported that Health Minister Veena George stood her ground in the Assembly and spelled out, in plain language, how Kerala is handling the crisis.

Yes, you read that right. Manorama, usually the first to pounce on ministers and the last to hand out compliments, was suddenly singing praises. In a rare moment of honesty, the paper even admitted that the Opposition had “chickened out.” When Manorama calls the UDF’s walkout an act of cowardice, you know something unusual has happened.

Veena George

Veena George, far from fumbling, turned the Assembly into a health seminar. She rolled out the science, the data, the testing protocols, every single thing the Opposition claimed she was hiding. Instead of ducking, she answered each question with the patience of a professor and the precision of a surgeon. By the time she was done, the Opposition benches had no space left to swing their sticks.

But the Opposition still tried. V D Satheesan, full of righteous fury, asked the absurd question: if numbers are rising, doesn’t that prove the government has lost control? George, unfazed, reminded him that the so-called surge was nothing but better detection, cases that would once have slipped through the cracks are now being caught because every brain fever is tested. “What you see as a spike,” she said, “is the result of vigilance, not negligence.” In other words: don’t mistake competence for crisis.

Then came Kondotty MLA T V Ibrahim, waving the flag for Kasaragod and demanding why testing facilities weren’t available in the northern districts. George didn’t flinch. The AME test, she explained, can be done in any lab across Kerala. On top of that, PCR facilities are already available in Thiruvananthapuram and will soon be operational in Kozhikode. Treatment guidelines were published in 2024, and Kerala remains the first and only state to prepare technical manuals for prevention and diagnosis. Translation: the system is already in place, you just haven’t bothered to notice.

And then, just like that, the UDF decided to pack up and walk out. Satheesan, who had been shouting the loudest, didn’t even wait for her to finish before storming off. His grand demand for answers had been met, but apparently the answers were too clear, too uncomfortable.

V D Satheeshan

The best part? Manorama loved every second of it. The paper mocked the Opposition for losing its nerve and, in an almost celebratory tone, praised George’s calm dismantling of their arguments. This is the same Manorama that usually tilts its magnifying glass at the government, searching for flaws. But on this day, it threw up its hands and admitted the obvious: the Health Department’s measures are not just working, they’re top notch.

So, the irony writes itself. A minister accused of being silent ended up flooding the Assembly with information. An Opposition desperate for debate bolted when the debate began. And a newspaper that lives off government-bashing was forced, gritting its teeth, no doubt, to admit that the state’s health system is doing exactly what it should.