THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's plans to send an all-party delegation to New Delhi to seek central assistance to fight drought is now mired in uncertainty with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office informing the state government that he will not be available for a meeting.
The State Assembly has strongly protested against the PMO stand. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan read out the letter from the PMO, which said that the PM was unavailable for a meeting ''due to his busy schedule,'' in the Assembly on Tuesday. The PMO has, instead, advised the state government to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh or Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Vijayan said.
Both the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF condemned the Centre's stand in the House, calling it undemocratic, contradictory to federal principles and an insult to the people of Kerala.
''We sought permission to meet the PM either on March 20 or 21. We had no problem with another date if the Prime Minister was unavailable on those dates. It is clear an audience has been denied us with the knowledge of the PM. It means he is not ready to meet an all-party delegation from Kerala. This is
condemnable,'' the chief minister said.
Such a stand on the part of the PMO was undemocratic and against federal principles, he said, adding this was not the first time that a delegation from Kerala was denied an audience.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said it was wrong of the PM to deny an audience to an all-party delegation from the state. ''It is autocratic and cannot be approved,'' he said. ''To say that you meet the Union Home Minister or the Finance Minister instead is tantamount to insulting the people of Kerala,''
Chennithala said. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy said that such a stand was the beginning of the destruction of the federal system.
The lone BJP MLA in the Assembly, O Rajagopal, called the LDF and the UDF protests politically motivated. The PM only said he cannot meet a delegation on those particular days, and not that he would never meet a delegation. The PM was busy on account of the elections and he cannot be faulted, Rajagopal said.