KOZHIKODE Olympian P.T. Usha has refused to be dragged into a controversy over a comment of CPI(M) central committee member Elamaram Kareem, MP, that the sprint queen secured the nomination to the Rajya Sabha for proving something other than an eligibility she had displayed in the Asian Games.
Replying to questions while addressing the media along with BJP State president K. Surendran and district president V.K. Sajeevan at her residence at Payyoli here on Friday, Ms. Usha said she respected Mr. Kareem as a mass leader. “ I know him for nearly 30 years. He has the right to comment on anything. Many have congratulated me while others may have criticised me as well,“ she said.
Inaugurating a protest meeting in Kozhikode on Thursday seeking to release civil rights activists Teesta Setalvad and former Gujarat police officer R.B. Sreekumar, Mr. Kareem, without naming Ms. Usha, said that now a person had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha and remarked that she had been proving her eligibility for quite some time to get nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
