Kerala Transport Minister C.P. John refuses to withdraw comments, saying they highlighted women’s poverty, not criticised the welfare scheme…reports Asian Lite News Desk
Kerala Transport Minister C.P. John on Tuesday refused to retract his controversial remarks on the state’s Priyadarshini free bus travel scheme for women, insisting that his comments were intended to highlight the financial hardships faced by many women rather than criticise the welfare initiative.
Responding to the growing political row, John said his remarks had been misunderstood and taken out of context.
“There are women who do not have the financial means even to travel. The tragedy is that the political leadership, including myself, failed to understand their poverty. That was the point I was making,” he said.
The minister maintained that he had never claimed people in Kerala were pretending to be poor and argued that critics should have sought clarification before launching attacks against him.
The controversy began after John, while addressing the Kerala Bus Transport Association’s state conference, remarked that women were crowding into loss-making Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses because travel had become free under the Priyadarshini scheme.
He also observed that many families benefiting from free public transport continued to spend heavily on private education while preferring government hospitals for healthcare.
His remarks triggered strong criticism from Opposition parties and on social media, with detractors accusing him of being insensitive towards women and making broad assumptions about the financial choices of ordinary families.
Supporters, however, defended the minister, saying he was drawing attention to the economic struggles that continue to affect many households despite Kerala’s strong social development indicators.
The controversy has also renewed focus on John’s long political career. A former student leader of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and once a prominent figure in the CPI(M), he left the party in 1986 along with veteran leader M.V. Raghavan following ideological differences.
John later joined Raghavan in founding the Communist Marxist Party (CMP), which aligned with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Over the years, he emerged as one of the party’s key organisers and remained a consistent presence in Kerala politics.
Although electoral success eluded him for years, John finally entered the Kerala Assembly this year after winning one of the state’s prestigious constituencies in Thiruvananthapuram, securing a place in Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s Cabinet.
His latest remarks have once again placed him at the centre of political debate, reinforcing his reputation as a leader known for making candid and often controversial statements.
