Health Minister Veena George after allegedly sustaining injuries on her neck and hand during a protest organized by Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists at the Kannur railway station on Wednesday. | Photo credit: SK MOHAN
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) has dismissed allegations by the Congress that Kerala Health Minister Veena George faked injuries during the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) protest at Kannur railway station on Wednesday to portray herself as a “martyr” and slow down the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) campaign against cases of alleged medical negligence of patients at the hospital.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan told reporters in Alappuzha on Thursday that visuals “clearly showed” KSU workers lurking at the railway station, holding back Ms George as she proceeded to the platform to board a train to Thiruvananthapuram and then ambushing her. He accused Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan of “sanctioning attacks by organized crime” against Ms George, including a trespass to her official residence in Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr Govindan accused the UDF of “enabling a corporate-controlled” private healthcare sector by resorting to “Goebbelsian tactics to undermine public confidence in the vaunted” public health sector in Kerala.
The CPI(M)’s staunch defense of Ms. George comes against the backdrop of Congress-CPI(M) violence in Kannur and Congress statements advocating “direct political action” by KSU activists.
Mr Satheesan said on Wednesday that Ms George’s allegation that KSU workers injured her was prima facie “improbable” if the images from the protest proved it. He said fewer than four KSU workers were involved in the protest, while a group of more than 50 police officers cornered Ms George in an “impermeable security ring”.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph said on Thursday that a preliminary inquiry by the Congress had concluded that the KSU workers had not harmed the minister but “only exercised their right to protest democratically” against deaths and injuries caused by medical negligence in government hospitals.
He said the police, at the instigation of the CPI(M) leadership, had planted “false cases” on KSU workers, including charges of attempted murder. In contrast, Mr. Joseph said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan “showed no sympathy” to the KSU and Youth Congress protesters who were “raped” by CPI(M) activists during the Nava Kerala Chief Minister’s campaign.
KSU leader Muhammed Shammas told reporters in Kannur that Ms George went to the third platform and signaled throat discomfort only after she “received a call from the Chief Minister”. He said the minister was admitted to the Kannur district hospital as an “afterthought” and the CPI(M) was trying to highlight the issue by having a dignitary visit her from Mr. Vijayan.
He noted somewhat scathingly that the minister had won “several awards for mono acts” as a student at the school.
Former KPCC president K Sudhakaran, an MP, called Ms George a “perfect actress and a bad health minister”.
Security at the offices of Congress has been strengthened
Meanwhile, the state police have beefed up security at Congress offices across Kerala, including the party headquarters at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.
Meanwhile, Mr. Govindan and Mr. Joseph appealed to their party cadres to maintain calm.
Published – 26 Feb 2026 11:38 IST
