Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condemned remarks made by a UDF leader against Kayamkulam MLA U Prathibha, calling them “misogynistic and insulting”. The comments were made by IUML leader A Irshad during an election event ahead of the April 9 polls, where he alleged that Prathibha was “selling” her eloquence and beauty for a third win and accused her of not working for the people.“Now she is again seeking a win from the constituency by selling her eloquence and beauty,” Irashad had alleged.Vijayan said attacking a woman with derogatory words because she is a public representative shows “a collapse of the political culture”. In a statement, he said such “character assassinations” were being used as the opposition could not politically counter the development work done in the constituency. He added that the remarks were not just against one person, but an insult to all women in public life, and said the opposition was mistaken if it thought it could gain votes by insulting women instead of discussing real issues.Meanwhile, Prathibha said she would take legal action after informing the Election Commission. She said she was shocked by the remarks and called them “beyond character assassination”“During elections, people look at the heart and mind of the candidate and not their body. I have given my heart and my energy to Kayamkulam and worked hard for it. The mindset that a woman is only a body is wrong. It was a shameful statement,” she said.Speaking to a TV channel and later at a press conference in Kayamkulam, Prathibha became emotional and questioned how such remarks could be made by a leader of a major political front. “I was deeply hurt by what I heard,” she said as tears flowed down her cheeks.
