Kerala Landslides: Congress leader Chennithala's salary donation to CMDRF draws flak from party chief

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has announced that he will donate one month's salary, which he draws as an MLA, to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund for the victims of the Wayanad landslide disaster, drawing a sharp reaction from the state party chief K Sudhakaran.

On Friday evening, Chennithala, a Congress Working Committee member and former Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, announced his decision to donate his salary through a statement released on the party's official social media handle.

Expressing his displeasure over the senior party leader's decision, Sudhakaran said on Saturday that there was no need to give money to the funds managed by the CPI(M)-led Left government.

"There was no directive (from the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) to contribute to the government's fund (CMDRF)," Sudhakaran told a news channel.

He said Congress was raising funds to help the affected people and Chennithala should have contributed to that instead.

Sudhakaran's statement comes amidst online smear campaigns discouraging people from sending funds to the CMDRF.

The Kerala police have launched an investigation into the alleged social media campaign against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Facebook post requesting help for the people affected by the landslides in Wayanad district.