The Congress-led UDF on Monday hit back at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his recent dig at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for inviting a "social media expert" to their recent political affairs committee meeting, alleging that he too has used PR agencies in the past.

Vijayan had recently said that the presence of the social media expert was an indication of evolving political dynamics in the state and had questioned whether any political parties ever sought opinions on campaign strategies in their high-level committee meetings.

The CM was referring to the KPCC meeting where top Congress leaders discussed campaign strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and during which poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu was also present.

Calling the CM "shameless" and "thick skinned", Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the assembly V D Satheesan claimed that the CM himself used the services of a Mumbai-based PR agency to decide the content of his press conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PR agency also worked to give him a makeover before the 2021 assembly polls, the LoP alleged.

"So there should be some shame when making such statements. He has become so thick skinned, he thinks he can say anything," Satheesan said, referring to the CM's remarks.

He further said that Vijayan need not teach the Congress how to carry out poll campaigns. We showed him how adept we are at carrying out election campaigns during the last two bypolls in the state.

Regarding the presence of Kanugolu at the KPCC meeting, Satheesan said he was a member of Congress and the AICC had made him a part of the task force which will formulate the poll strategies.

"Even otherwise, what is wrong with taking help from PR agencies? Which political party in the country does not take their help?" he asked.

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