Veteran Malayalam actor KPAC Lalitha passes away
Kochi, Feb 22: Noted Malayalam actor KPAC Lalitha passed away late on Tuesday at her residence in Tripunithura near here, film industry sources said.
She was 74. Lalitha is survived by her actor-director son Sidharth Bharathan and daughter Sreekutty. She was married to the legendary Malayalam film director late Bharathan.
Lalitha had been bedridden for the past few months.
Known for her versatility in playing a wide range of characters, Lalitha began her acting career as a theatre artist with KPAC (Kerala People's Arts Club)-- a theatre collective in Kerala, five decades ago.
She forayed into the movie industry in 1969 with 'Koottukudumbam' directed by K S Sethumadhavan.
Lalitha took a break from acting for some time in the late 1970s, but returned in 1983 with 'Kattathe Kilikkoodu', directed by Bharathan.
Condoling her demise, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said she could make her way into hearts of different generations with her acting skills.
Lalitha was also the chairperson of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
