Kerala CM’s interview controversy: The Hindu points to ‘inclusion by PR agency’ as row deepens

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s interview in The Hindu has kicked up a storm over his alleged remarks portraying the Muslim-majority Malappuram district as a hub of anti-national activities. 

After the CM’s press secretary wrote to the paper’s editor claiming that he had neither mentioned any region nor used terms such as “anti-state” or “anti-national”, The Hindu said that the remarks were added on the request of PR agency Kaizzen which had arranged the interview.

But on Wednesday, Kaizzen reportedly denied that the chief minister was its client.

The interview, which was published on Monday, was titled ‘CPI(M) has always stridently opposed RSS, other Hindutva forces in Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan’, and mainly touched upon communalism and gold smuggling. “For example, 150 kg of gold and hawala money worth 123 crore were seized by the state police in the last five years from Malappuram district. This money is entering Kerala for ‘anti-state’ and ‘anti-national activities’. The allegations that you are referring to are a reaction to such action by our government,” it read.

Pinarayi Vijayan drew criticism, with Muslim organistions burning his effigy and seeking his resignation.

In a subsequent letter to the editor of The Hindu, the CM’s press secretary PM Manoj raised serious concerns regarding the interview’s content and claimed certain statements were wrongly attributed to the CM. “These statements do not reflect the chief minister’s views and the Kerala government’s stance on such matters.”

In response, The Hindu carried a correction stating that statements were requested to be added by a representative of the PR firm. It apologised for the inclusion, stating that it was a lapse in journalistic rigour and should not have happened. 

“Our journalist interviewed the CM at Kerala House at 9 am on September 29, where two representatives of the PR agency were also present along with the CM. The interview lasted for around 30 minutes. Subsequently, one of the PR representatives requested for the inclusion of details regarding gold smuggling and hawala transactions, which he said were originally made at a press conference by the CM,” the correction read.

According to Asianet News, Kaizzen’s CEO Vinit Hande and TD Subramanian, son of former CPI(M) MLA TK Divakaran, were present during the interview, and that it was Subramanian, an employee of Reliance, who allegedly asked the journalist to include the answers.

According to other reports, Kaizzen said that Pinarayi Vijayan was not a client and that no representatives from the PR firm were present with the journalist during the interview. “Kaizzen was part of Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s media team when he was an MP and supported the Citizenship Amendment Bill,” Media One said, attributing the claim to a Kaizzen executive.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that Kaizzen is a PR agency working behind the scenes for the BJP and its allies in the upcoming Maharashtra elections. “How did a PR agency handling elections for the BJP infiltrate into Pinarayi Vijayan's office?...it is certain that Vijayan appointed this agency based on BJP leadership’s instructions.”

This report was republished from The News Minute as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. It has been lightly edited for style. Read about our partnership here and become a subscriber here.