Did Pinarayi take a jab at Modi with Rosy pastor comment?

Kottayam: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reference to a  'migratory bird' at a speech at the Kerala State Biodiversity Congres has given rise to wild theories on the exact subject and his intent. 

It is said the CPM leader did hit the bull's eye by referring to the Rosy pastor bird, but the viral surmises on social media apparently suggest he could have failed to drive home the exact ecological point he had in mind while delivering the inaugural address of the Kerala State Biodiversity Congress organised by the Biodiversity Board at the Government Brennan College, Thalassery, on Sunday. Pinarayi had stated that the increasing presence of Rosy pastor, a migratory bird usually seen in arid regions in Kerala, was a bad sign.

Apparently, he was implicating the broader issue of climatic change, but his words rapidly spread like wildfire and it was interpreted that the chief minister might have been alluding to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state the same day. The allusions matched correctly, as the climatic change could refer to the changes in Kerala’s political climate, according to the interpretations.

Rosy starling (Pastor roseus), also known as Rosy pastor, migrates from Europe and Central Asian countries in August-September to escape the  the freezing winter months. The bird seeks the hot regions of northern India usually, but for the past couple of years, an increasing presence of Rosy pastor has been reported from many parts of Kerala, especially Thirunakkara in Kottayam. Experts have been attributing this phenomenon to the changing climatic patterns and it was a very natural choice for the chief minister while addressing a meeting on biodiversity and climatic changes.

Close on the heels of the chief minister's jab, the CPM State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also joined the fray. Charging that Modi’s continuous visits to the state was part of some premeditated designs, Balakrishnan challenged Modi to take a clear position on the Sabarimala issue.

The CPM has been accusing that Kerala’s BJP leadership has been manipulating the Sabarimala issue to promote the cause of BJP in the state. That the state office of the Sabarimala Action Committee is located at Thirunakkara in Kottayam lends an angle to Pinarayi’s jab. The prime minister had paid two visits to Kerala in brief intervals.

However, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is of the stand that there was no need to unnecessarily politicise the CM’s words. CMO explains that the speech was pre-prepared and the reference to the Rosy pastor was already included in it as an example of the impending dangers of climatic change that has reached our own door steps.

However, the BJP leadership has not failed to tow Pinarayi’s line on the ‘migratory bird,’ with the party state secretary K Surendran promptly posting in social media that Narendra Modi was not a mere migratory bird, but the royal swan that soars up to the heavens from the sacred Manasa Sarovar near Mount Kailash. 

The original Rosy pastor and Thirunakkara

Meanwhile, the chief minister’s own Rosy pastor had become a familiar presence in Thirunakkara, the suburb of Kottayam. The pale pink and glossy black bird with light orange feet travels in huge flocks. The massive flocks that dot the sky in evenings are a usual winter sight in the north Indian towns and cities, even up to Bangalore. Usually the colour of the bird turns from light pink to beige on arriving in India. The farmers in the northern plains welcome the bird as they feed on insects including the dreaded locusts. At Thirunakkara, the birds were observed as feeding on small worms found in the soil. These birds do not breed in India.

The increasing number of Rosy pastor in Thirunakkara could be taken as proof of the climatic changes, according to Dr. B Sreekumar, secretary, Kottayam Nature Club. He pointed out that though the bird used to arrive in Kerala even before, the presence has increased considerably with larger flocks arriving now. Usually around 122 species of migratory birds arrive in Kerala every season.