THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At A time when the state is battling devastation on a scale unseen in recent memory, Forest Minister K Raju along with Ponnani MP E T Mohammed Basheer and CPI’s young turk Mohammed Muhassin, the Pattambi MLA, chose to tour Germany.
c, has raised questions from various quarters.
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The floods have wreaked havoc on Kulathupuzha and several other parts of Punalur Assembly segment which Raju represents. His Germany visit comes in the backdrop of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan having put off his visit to the Mayo Clinic in the US. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran told Express, “The minister had taken the party’s permission for the visit. However, it was up to him to decide whether or not to leave for Germany. Indeed, there are people efficient enough to coordinate relief operations in his absence.”
The minister is scheduled to attend seminars which the Malayali Associations world over organise regularly. CPI sources hinted the party state executive and the state council, which are slated to finalise the candidate for the Chief Whip, are likely to become a stormy affair on account of the minister’s foreign visit. Thomas George, now a German citizen, on holiday in his hometown Mukootuthara in Pathanamthitta said, “In Germany, the Malayali Associations organise programmes regularly and getting a minister or a VIP from Kerala is considered a prestige issue. Nothing concrete comes out of these meetings.”