KOCHI: With the state assembly elections just weeks away, the CPM and the BJP have entered into a fresh political confrontation after the LDF government boycotted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official function in Kochi on Wednesday, where he inaugurated and launched development projects worth around Rs 10,800 crore.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and two cabinet colleagues, Local Self-Government Minister M. B. Rajesh and Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty, have decided to stay away from the event, accusing the Centre of sidelining Kerala’s Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Mohammed Riyas from the official programme. Congress MP from Ernakulam, Hibi Eden, attended the event.
CPM state secretary M. B. Govindan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that the Centre’s refusal to include PWD Minister Riyas in the function—where the Prime Minister is scheduled to launch two major highway projects, the six-laning of the Thalapady–Chengala section of NH-66 and the six-laning of the Kozhikode Bypass from Vengalam to Ramanattukara—was uncalled for.
Riyas said that excluding the state PWD minister from the programme amounted to humiliating Kerala. “As a normal practice, the PWD minister’s name is included by Nitin Gadkari’s office when a national highway stretch is inaugurated in Kerala. There have been many such inaugurations in the past, and I have attended such events. This is not just about avoiding the state PWD minister; it is as good as humiliating Kerala,” Riyas told reporters.
He pointed out that the NH-66 projects had once come to a halt in Kerala and that it was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s determination that helped revive them. “In 2014, the National Highways Authority of India took a stand that the national highway project would not be possible in Kerala and wrote to the central government stating the same. NHAI also shut its office in Kerala,” Riyas said.
“We all know that the then UDF government’s incompetence was the reason for this. In 2016, the LDF government came to power in Kerala, and Pinarayi Vijayan became the Chief Minister. We had mentioned in our election manifesto that if we were elected to power, we would intervene to revive the NH project in Kerala,” he said.
Riyas said the Chief Minister later met the Prime Minister and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to revive the highway projects. “The central government took the stand that it would not be possible to spend higher amounts on national highway works in Kerala. The state government then had two options—either drop the project or find additional funds for it,” he said.
“In the history of national highway development, until that point, no state government had spent money on such projects. But Kerala is one of the most densely populated states in the country, and traffic bottlenecks are a real concern given the high number of vehicles per person. Hence, NH-66 will bring relief to the people. For the first time in history, a state government decided to spend money on a national highway project,” Riyas added.
He said the state government spent around Rs 5,600 crore for the NH project in Kerala by channelling funds meant for other sectors. “Later, the funds released through KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) were brought under the state’s debt ceiling. When you bring that amount under the debt ceiling, the financial burden effectively doubles to around Rs 12,000 crore,” he explained.
Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh, who had been invited to the function, also announced that he would boycott the event, saying he was informed about the programme barely 24 hours in advance. Rajesh alleged that he had also faced humiliation during the Prime Minister’s function in Thiruvananthapuram last month when he was asked by SPG personnel to produce his Aadhaar card before entering the venue.
He said he already had several engagements in his constituency, Thrithala, and had no plans to attend the PM’s event in Kochi.
Riyas further pointed out that while the state PWD minister was excluded from the programme, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had been included in the official event.
Responding to the criticism, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Chief Minister had been invited to attend the function. “If the Chief Minister wanted his son-in-law to attend the event, he should have informed the PMO much in advance,” Chandrasekhar said. Riyas is the son-in-law of Pinarayi Vijayan. When reporters pointed out that Riyas was the state’s PWD minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Chief Minister, as the head of the state government, had been invited to the programme.
During the visit, the Prime Minister inaugurated, dedicated to the nation, laid foundation stones and flagged off multiple development projects in the state worth around Rs 10,800 crore. Among them, he will lay the foundation stone for the proposed polypropylene unit at the Kochi Refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.