2 Dec : The CPI(M) has described as "regrettable" Kerala CM V S Achuthanandan’s remarks made during his visit to the Bangalore residence of the slain NSG commando, Sandeep Unnikrishnan.
"Certain remarks of V S Achuthanandan are regrettable. I have spoken to him over the phone on the matter," party General Secretary Prakash Karat said in a statement from Rajasthan on Tuesday.
Karat said Achuthanandan, a CPI(M) Politburo member, had "assured that he had no other intention but to go to the home of Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was brutally killed by terrorists in Mumbai, to pay homage and condole the family."
The Kerala Chief Minister had ignited a controversy after being "snubbed" by the angry father of the NSG officer, when he went to Bangalore to offer his condolences, by saying,"If it had not been Sandeep’s house, not even a dog would have glanced that way."
The NSG Major was killed in the Mumbai terror attacks during a commando operation.
The octogenarian CPI(M) leader was turned away from the Bangalore home of Sandeep, a Keralite, for what his father perceived as the Kerala government ignoring his son’s supreme sacrifice by not making a condolence call on time.
Despite the criticism, Achuthanandan had come calling on the soldier’s family members but a depressed father had declined to accept the CM’s condolences.