Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did his best to wriggle out of questions related to the PR row with a mix of evasive replies and guffaws. He said that neither he nor his government engaged a PR agency and that no money was given to an agency. He reiterated that Malappuram-related remarks, which were published in The Hindu newspaper on September 30, were not part of the replies he gave to the media house.

Vijayan added that the PR agency representatives at the interview were not hired by the Chief Minister's Office. "I decided to give the interview at the suggestion of TD Subhramanyan, an acquaintance of mine. Another individual, who I am not familiar with, also walked in during the interview," he said, adding that he assumed that person had come in tow with the journalist who interviewed him. When asked if the person had security clearance, Pinarayi did not respond.

The Chief Minister stated that no legal action was necessary against The Hindu as the media house had "honourably clarified" their mistake. “I don't understand how they gave it as my version, but anyway, they issued a clarification, and we accepted it. Subrahmanyam is someone who is politically close and I have known him from a young age. When he suggested an interview with The Hindu, I agreed,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.

The Chief Minister made it seem like he just gave into the affection of a youth he knew very closely. "He (TD Subhramanyan, the son of Coirfed chairman and former Haripad MLA T K Devakumar) asked me whether I could give an interview to the Hindu. I was also interested," the Chief Minister said.

If the CM was dealing with the son of a friend, it was surprising that he did not find it problematic that this youth he trusted approached a national daily as a representative of a leading PR agency and insisted on putting words that could be construed as communal into the CM's mouth. "I don't know what transpired between them," the CM said, as if he could not be bothered with such trifles. 

If the CM is to be believed, he has clearly been tricked. Still, the CM's Office has not tried to contact Subramanian. It looks like they are waiting for Subramanian to make the call. "He has not contacted me till now," the CM said.

Equally weird was the CM's remark that a third person just walked into the room where the interview was going on. "I thought he was part of the Hindu team," the Chief Minister said. This was a CM who had ordered reporters to "get out" from an event he mistakenly assumed they were not invited to. It looked out of character that the CM did not bother to ask his interviewer, or at least the youth he was close to, the purpose of the new entrant's presence.

The CM also could not provide a convincing answer when asked whether the same PR agency had facilitated his recent interview with Khaleej Times. "It is usual for Gulf newspapers to use their Malayali contacts to get interviews," he said, suggesting that, like in the case of The Hindu, people close to him and not professional agencies were his links to the Gulf media.

The controversy gained traction after The Hindu reported that the anti-Malappuram remarks in its interview with the Chief Minister were included by a public relations agency. 
Read More: Onmanorama Explains | All about the PR controversy haunting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.