VS flayed for smuggler remark against royals
Social groups and political leaders on Monday criticised Kerala opposition leader V S Achuthanandan for alleging that the head of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore smuggled jewels out of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.
“Achuthanandan’s remark on the royal family could have been easily avoided. I am none to advice him on such issues,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said.
Achuthanandan had earlier said Marthanda Varma, head of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, smuggled jewels from the temple, which was in the news recently for the treasures recovered from its vaults.
“Don’t you know that Marthanda Varma goes to the temple everyday? When he returns he carries a tiffin box. The general perception is that he brings the “payasam”. But it is not that. Instead, it is jewels,” Achuthanandan had said.
Achuthanandan also said this was told to him by a former temple priest. Varma oversees the functioning of the famous temple through an executive committee.
G Sukumaran Nair, General Secretary of Nair Service Society, a social organisation of the Nair community, said such statements from Achuthanandan is nothing new, but as the leader of opposition he should not have made these allegations.
