Pesticide row divides Kerala leaders

Endosulfan has been widely used in state-owned cashew plantations in Kasaragod district and is widely considered to have caused serious health issues for the population in the vicinity.

The latest controversy in the Congress has erupted over senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi's appearance in the Supreme Court in support of Endosulfan, while the official stand of the Congress unit in Kerala is to ban the pesticide.

State chief minister Oommen Chandy Saturday refused to comment on Singhvi's stand in support of the pesticide, but said Singhvi had given an appraisal on the matter to his party's state unit chief Ramesh Chennithala.