Kochi: Twenty20 party chief and Kitex MD Sabu M Jacob on Sunday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his remarks on the Kuwait fire disaster, calling it an insult to all expatriates. He said by pinning the blame for the disaster entirely on Malayali expat businessman KG Abraham, MD of NBTC – the company that owned the building where the fire broke out – the chief minister has revealed the anger and poison he holds towards the business community.

"The situation in Kerala today is such that no industry can function peacefully. The deplorable strategy of the chief minister to isolate and deprive a businessman like KG Abraham, who fled the country out of helplessness and toiled for decades to create a name for himself, in the face of a completely coincidental disaster is highly condemnable," said Sabu.

He further said the CPM is a party that grew in Kerala by feeding off the hard work of many industrialists, including expats. "KG Abraham had questioned the misuse of the flood relief fund during the first Pinarayi government and the tax imposed on closed houses of non-residents. The chief minister's statements at the Loka Kerala Sabha are nothing but political vendetta," he added.