The UDF circles here feel that Antony’s reassuring words during the inauguration of the HAL unit at Kasargode in north Kerala on Saturday had come as a relief to the government headed by Oommen Chandy. In a speech at the BrahMos unit here last week, widely interpreted as a clear expression of displeasure at the Chandy ministry, Antony had said a proper atmosphere had been missing in the state to bring in defence related projects.
Interestingly, choosing the venue of another defence production unit, Antony on Saturday said he had always insisted politics should not come in the way of development and he only drove home that point again through his speech at the BrahMos unit.
Though he said too much politics had been read into his speech by media, significantly, he did not accuse journalists of playing deliberate mischief.