Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi
| Photo Credit: SURESH ALLEPPEY
Union Minister Suresh Gopi has admitted using an ambulance to reach the Thrissur Pooram venue due to health issues. “I had difficulty walking through the crowd because of my leg pain. Some young people, with no political agenda, helped me into the ambulance,” he explained.
Initially, Mr. Gopi had denied arriving at the venue in an ambulance and even challenged a CBI investigation into the matter. However, BJP district President K.K. Aneesh Kumar earlier had said that Gopi travelled to the city by his car and only used the ambulance for a brief distance to access the Pooram venue, as private vehicles were prohibited.
Mr. Gopi also suggested that the controversies surrounding the disruptions at Thrissur Pooram were an attempt to distract from the Karuvannur scam.
The Union MoS claimed that he was rescued from there by some youngsters who put him in an ambulance which was there at the festival site to cater to those in distress.
“I do not need to explain it further. Let the CBI come and investigate. Do they have the courage to bring the CBI. Their entire politics will go up in flames if it happens. You want the truth to come out, bring the CBI,” he said.
He further claimed that all these issues were being created to hide financial frauds like the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam.
The Thrissur Pooram disruption row has triggered a political debate in the state after Chief Minister Vijayan stated that the Pooram and the other rituals were not disrupted.
Congress and the Left ally CPI have alleged that the Pooram was purportedly disrupted to help the BJP win the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat by evoking Hindu sentiment.
There were police interventions in the Thrissur Pooram rituals and the subsequent controversies took the sheen off the annual spectacle held in April this year.
For the first time in the history of the festival, the display of fireworks, one of the major attractions of the event, which was scheduled in the early hours, was held in broad daylight the next day, which turned out to be a disappointment for the festival buffs.
(With PTI inputs)
Published – October 31, 2024 01:23 pm IST
