The controversy over an alleged derogatory remark made by former Kerala minister M M Mani against RMP legislator K K Rema took a new turn on Saturday as it led to a face-off between the CPM veteran and CPI leader Annie Raja.

Mani, the Udumbanchola MLA, attacked Raja in strong words, drawing flak from her and her party colleagues.

Asked about Raja's criticism of Mani for the insensitive remarks he made against Rema in the Kerala assembly, Mani said the CPI leader should only mind her business in Delhi.

"Raja’s area of work is in Delhi not in Kerala assembly. She should mind her business there not here. How would she know the issues we face in Kerala assembly. I don't mind whatever she says. I stand by what I said. I would have said it in a better way had I got enough time," Mani told reporters. While making his statement, he used a derogatory slang which has provoked the senior CPI leader and her party.

Terming Mani's remarks highly misogynist and condemnable, Raja said the political formation (Left Democratic Front) to which Mani belongs should introspect if his words were proper or not.

"I have been engaged with Left and feminist political activism in Delhi for years. I won't bow before any threat. Even Narendra Modi or Amit Shah could not threaten me," Raja retorted to Mani.

Raja had slammed Mani for his remark that "Rema's widowhood was her fate". Rema is the wife of T P Chandrasekharan who was brutally murdered by political opponents. A CPM rebel, Chandrasekharan was hacked to death in May 2012 after he floated a parallel Left outfit called the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) in his home turf Onchiayam in north Kerala. Local CPM leaders and hired goons were convicted in the case.

The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front have been demanding apology from Mani for his insensitive remark even as he remained defiant in the face of stiff protests.

Raja criticised Mani saying a Communist should not have made such a remark. Her party, the CPI is the second largest ally of the ruling CPM-led LDF.

CPI slams Mani

CPI Idukki district secretary K K Sivaraman on Saturday hit back at Mani saying Mani's language was obscene and the CPM should rectify it. In a tit-for-tat remark, Sivaraman also used the same slang word used by Mani to ask "where's (CPM politburo member) Brinda Karat doing her business."

Kerala Mahila Sangham and CPI's youth wing All India Youth federation (AIYF) have also registered their protest against Mani's remarks on Raja.