Kannur: In his years as Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan was known for publicly snapping at emcees, announcers and microphone operators whenever a microphone howled, screeched or malfunctioned during public events. In one such incident in Thiruvananthapuram, police had even registered a case against a microphone operator after a feedback howl disrupted his speech.

But on Wednesday, when both the microphone and the podium appeared to fail him at a cramped function hall in Kannur, the Leader of the Opposition-designate reacted with unusual restraint. The awkward moment unfolded at the small IMA Hall in Kannur during a function where the Moyarath Sankaran Memorial Award was presented to former minister Ramachandran Kadannappally.

After handing over the award, Pinarayi walked towards the podium to deliver his speech, only to realise something was wrong. The podium was unusually narrow and too short for his height. To compensate, organisers had placed a raised wooden plank behind the podium for him to stand and reach the microphone.

But the makeshift platform itself was extremely narrow, leaving little room for balance. As he cautiously climbed onto the plank, Pinarayi appeared to immediately sense the risk involved. When the microphone operator tried lowering the mic for him, he said: “Let me first climb up properly… then you can lower the microphone.”

Once he began speaking, Pinarayi gently pointed out the problem to the organisers instead of losing his temper. “It is difficult to climb onto and get down from this podium. At least for the next programme, this should be corrected,” he said.

After speaking briefly, he stepped down carefully, visibly struggling to get off the raised plank. During the speech itself, he remarked that if he moved backwards, he could slip and fall. But this time, Pinarayi did not slip up, either on the narrow plank or in temperament.