THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said regional parties will play a prominent role in the post-poll scenario. He was referring to his meeting with TRS leader and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao the other day.
“Regional parties will play a prominent role after the elections. Things are moving in such a direction now. There should be no doubt about unseating BJP from power,” Pinarayi said.
He said a secular government that follows federal principles will come into power at the Centre. On Rao’s move for a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front at the Centre, Pinarayi said regional parties can band together to protect the common interests of different states and address their common issues.
“Post elections, the state government will rally together those interested in the state’s development and take steps to achieve the state’s requirements,” he said.
Pinarayi said discussions on the national political scenario were held during his meeting with Rao. “There will be a scenario where two major parties – Congress and BJP – won’t get majority. No discussions were held on the Prime Minister candidate,” he said.
He said the election results in Kerala will be similar to that of 2004, when the Left won 18 seats. He said BJP will not open its account in the state this time, too.
CM to leave for Europe today
T’Puram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will leave for a two-week visit to Europe on Wednesday. During his absence, no minister has been given the charge of Chief Minister, said the CM at a post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday. He, however, added if the Cabinet convenes, Industries Minister E P Jayarajan will chair it. Pinarayi will attend several programmes, including a session at the World Reconstruction Conference at Geneva. He’s expected to attend the conference and share experiences of dealing with the mid-August floods. “The invite for the conference came earlier, and since the elections were around, we were not sure of attending. There will also be a visit to the Netherlands, where discussions will be held about common initiatives in line with Kuttanad model. One day we’ll go to London to attend the listing ceremony of KIIFB’s Masala bonds,” he said.
