‘Even a dog won’t visit his house’ Kerela CM Hits Back At Unni’s Dad


V S Achuthanandan

Thiruvananthapuram: If the loss of their only son was not enough, the family of slain NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan now has insult to add to it — courtesy Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan.
A day after Sandeep’s father heaped scorn on the chief minister and Kerala’s home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who visited his Bangalore home on Sunday, Achuthanandan retorted that ‘’not even a dog would have visited the house'’ had it not been the martyr’s.
‘’Is there a rule that the chief ministers of Kerala and Karnataka should visit together. Not even a dog would have looked that way had it not been Sandeep’s house. Our attachment to Sandeep’s family is special. Should not Mr Unnikrishnan, a soldier’s father, understand this,'’ the Kerala chief minister told a news channel.
Achuthanandan, who is away in Bangalore, could not be reached for comments. However, his private secretary said he was not aware of the chief minister making any such comments.
Achuthanandan and Kodiyeri had called on the commando’s parents to convey the state government’s condolences. The decision to travel to Bangalore came following criticism from parties like the BJP which accused the state of insulting the martyr - a Keralite - by not sending anyone to attend his funeral.

‘Ministers acted only after media reports’

Bangalore: The day after he refused to meet Kerala CM V S Achuthanandan and home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the father of the slain hero of the Taj siege Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, told TOI that he holds no grudge against politicians. ‘’I am not against politicians or the government. Sandeep too was never against the system. I have faith in the system and believe that politicians are a part of a democracy. My family is as nationalistic as anyone else. We believe in the system.'’ Unnikrishnan said it was for a specific reason that he turned the Kerala CM out.