Palakkad brewery row: Kerala BJP president K. Surendran calls CPI ‘spineless’

BJP State president K. Surendran inaugurating a protest campaign led by the party’s Palakkad east district president Prashant Shivan against the proposed brewery at Elapully on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

BJP’s Kerala State president K. Surendran has described the CPI as “a party without a backbone.”

“The CPI has proved yet again that barking dogs will not bite. The CPI is deceiving people in the Elapully brewery issue. It is afraid of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” said Mr. Surendran while inaugurating a BJP protest campaign against the proposed brewery led by BJP Palakkad east district president Prashant Shivan at Manthakkad near Malampuzha in Palakkad on Thursday (February 20, 2025).

Mr. Surendran said BJP is the only party that was agitating against the proposed brewery at Elapully in Palakkad. “Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and other United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders are merely limiting themselves to holding press conferences,” he said.

The BJP leader said his party would not permit any project that threatens Palakkad’s environment. “Palakkad is one of the hottest places in India. People here are struggling without drinking water. The Jal Jeevan Mission is not being implemented because of the inefficiency of the State government,” he said.

Slams Excise Minister

He dismissed Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh’s assurance that groundwater will not be used for the brewery, calling it “a hollow statement.”

“Oasis Commercial, the brewery company marred by its controversial past and entangled in Delhi’s liquor policy scandal, is driven solely by economic interests in the Elapully project,” he alleged.

“Considering the Congress’ track record of flexibility, they may compromise with the LDF to facilitate the brewery project. Both the UDF and the LDF have a history of mutual support. The BJP is the sole voice for the people,” he said.

G. Sujit, president of the BJP Malampuzha constituency unit, presided over the function. BJP State secretary C. Krishnakumar introduced the subject. Mr. Shivan, party’s Palakkad west district president P. Venugopal, and district general secretary A.K. Omanakuttan, constituency general secretaries Jyotish, Vipin, and P. Unnikrishnan spoke.