T’PURAM/KOZHIKODE/KOTTAYAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official tour abroad with his family and cabinet colleagues has triggered a political row in the state, with the opposition parties terming the visit “a lesiure trip at the state’s expense”.
Pinarayi, General Education Minister V Sivankutty and Industries Minister P Rajeeve, along with a groups of high-level officials, are on a European tour. The CM’s wife, daughter and grandson, and Sivankutty’s wife are accompanying the official delegation. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said the UDF is not against the CM or his cabinet colleagues going abroad.
“They went abroad with their families. At a time when politicians are under the scanner, there should be more transparency on such visits. It hasn’t gone well with the public” he said. Satheesan said since the expenses of the visits are borne by the state government, the government should convince the public about the programmes they attend. “We came to know of the Loka Kerala Sabha programme in London through the media,” he said. Neither the CM nor the ministers are able to clarify how the state will benefit from the foreign trip, he said.
BJP state president K Surendran wondered what the state will gain out of the current trip. “The people of Kerala are asking whether it is an official foreign trip or a leisure trip. It is nothing but a pleasure trip undertaken at the expense of the state exchequer,” he alleged.
This foreign trip by the CM and ministers with their families, especially when the state is in the midst of a severe financial crisis, was totally unnecessary, Surendran said. The state has not benefited from any foreign trips made by Pinarayi since 2016, he alleged.
Pinarayi’s visit abroad with family is a matter of propriety, said political commentator J Prabhash. “Such a visit with family should have ideally been avoided. As one with high moral grounds, the CM should have kept away from such a needless controversy. It doesn’t augur well, especially for a Communist chief minister,” he said.
However, senior CPM leader A K Balan defended the families accompanying the CM and minsiters. During Oommen Chandy government’s tenure, one minister went abroad 26 times and his wife accompanied him in 12, Balan alleged. Another UDF minister too went abroad 16 times. “I will reveal the names of the UDF ministers, if challenged,” he added.