Kannur (Keralam) [India], February 25 : Keralam Health Minister Veena George sustained injuries during a black flag protest staged by members of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) at the Kannur Railway Station today.
The incident occurred near the ticket counter when the minister arrived to board the Vande Bharat Express.
Amid the protest and ensuing commotion, the health minister reportedly suffered injuries to her neck and hand. She was immediately taken to the Kannur District Hospital for treatment.
Following the incident, her scheduled travel was cancelled. Protests against the health minister have intensified across Kannur in recent days
Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called on the injured minister at the Kannur hospital.
CPM State Secretary M.V. Govindan called the attack a pre-planned deliberate assault.
"Attack on Health Minister Veena George was a brutal and deliberate assault. Never before has such an attack been carried out against a woman minister in Kerala. This was an organised, pre-planned attack, carried out with the full knowledge of the Congress leadership. Their intention was nothing short of harming, even killing the Minister," he said.
Reacting to the information, Keralam Education Minister V Sivankutty told the media, "The Health Minister of Kerala was brutally attacked by activists of KSU and Youth Congress. She is currently in the hospital in a very serious condition. This is the first time in Kerala's political history that such an incident has taken place. Youth Congress and KSU workers would not have carried out such an attack on their own."
Sivankutty further alleged that the protest and attack on the Health Minister would have happened at the direction of the Keralam leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan. "It may have happened based on the advice or direction of the Leader of the Opposition. The Minister has suffered injuries to her neck, arm and shoulder and has been admitted to the hospital...The Left's secular movements have never acted in such a manner," he said.
He further condemned the attack stating, "We will not think of revenge, but this incident is utterly condemnable. A woman minister was attacked. If something like this had happened to Sonia Gandhi, how would the Congress have reacted? The Congress leadership must answer that. We strongly condemn this barbaric, crude and disgraceful political act."