Lack of coordination between Centre, state govt on bringing back Keralites' from abroad: Congress's Ramesh Chennithala

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday accused the Centre and state government of playing politics on the issue of bringing back Keralites from abroad and said there is no coordination between the two.Chief Minister said 80,000 Keralites will be brought back, but Union Minister of State has said all those who wish to return, will be included in the list," Congress leader said in a press meet.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday accused the Centre and state government of playing politics on the issue of bringing back Keralites from abroad and said there is no coordination between the two.

"The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan are issuing contradictory statements. Chief Minister said 80,000 Keralites will be brought back, but Union Minister of State has said all those who wish to return, will be included in the list," Congress leader said in a press meet.

"Instead of working together the centre and state are at loggerheads. It is unfortunate that such a situation arises. Both centre and state are playing politics," he said.

On Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced that the government will operate at least 64 flights between May 7 and May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indians stranded in other countries, in one of the country's biggest evacuations during the coronavirus outbreak.

"64 flights will be operated in the first week of operation to bring stranded Indians from different countries from May 7 to May 13," Puri said addressing a video press conference.

Ramesh Chennithala also alleged that the Centre and state are not meeting the expense of travel of migrant workers and Congress's efforts to meet their expenses have been turned down.

The Congress leader also demanded that the Kerala government should operate state-run KSRTC buses to bring back Keralites from neighbouring states.

While Kerala was the first state in the country to detect COVID-19, but now, it has managed to contain the virus.

( With inputs from ANI )