KOLLAM: Public Works Minister Mohammed Riyas on Wednesday lashed out at Opposition Leader VD Satheesan. During his speech at Chathannoor, the minister asked whether VD Satheesan wasn't ashamed to sit on the chair of the Opposition Leader. He said that the Opposition Leader should be ashamed of himself for providing all the facilities by acting as BJP's B team when the Centre was trying to destabilize non-BJP governments by using those in constitutional positions.

Mohammed Riyas accused Satheesan of providing all the facilities to the Youth Congress to make fake ID cards. He also alleged that the opposition leader adopted an anti-democratic approach that Kerala had not seen to date by unleashing violence.

"There is no doubt that the Chief Minister of Kerala, who led the Left Front government in 2016 and retained power in 2021 with more seats and popular support, can sit proudly on that chair. The Opposition Leader should realize that the Chief Minister, who led Kerala bravely by holding the people together in times of crisis be it Nipah, Okhi, Covid or flood, can sit in this chair with pride and not shame. There is no doubt that the Chief Minister, who takes a strong secular stand against the stances of injecting religious and communal riots and saffronization into the education syllabus, is sitting on that chair not with shame but with pride," the minister said.