Kerala CPI-M slams BJP Minister for barb over Pinarayi Vijayan, family's foreign trip

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 13 The Kerala CPI-M on Thursday tore into Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.Muraleedharan over his "unsavoury" remark on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family's foreign trip.

Ever since the journey began, the social media is flooded with messages questioning the objective of the trip as the CM, along with his family had left for it just hours after the funeral of his party politburo colleague Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, last Monday.

A leading Malayalam TV channel in one of its weekly satire programmes termed the trip a "needless" one, when the state is passing through one of its worst ever financial crises and condemned the Congress-led Opposition for being silent on the issue.

It was after this, that the Congress state president K.Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan went hammer and tongs against Vijayan.

Soon came Muraleedharan's broadside asking the chief minister to come clean on his trip and to clarify whether it was according to what he had informed the External Affairs ministry.

"The least that can be expected is at least his party cadres should find out what has been the outcome of this 'pleasure trip'. State government's official statement that an official agreement has been inked wherein health professionals will be able to work in the UK is all humbug. When an agreement could have been signed by recruitment agencies in Kerala, there was no need for a 'family' trip of Vijayan," said the Union Minister.

"The Chief Minister had informed the External Affairs ministry that the expense of the trip would be borne by the state. Now, we wish to know if the expenses were met by the bourgeois community. Using the money of the diaspora to meet the expanses of a labour class political party leader's trip is indeed shameless. Huge foreign investments have come to Uttar Pradesh and it did not happen because the UP Chief Minister went with his family abroad. The only thing needed here is the state should be turned into an investment friendly one," said Muraleedharan.

But on Thursday morning, Govindan said it's unbecoming of a Union Minister to have spoken like this.

"It doesn't befit the position he holds as he should not have said all these. I will rather not reply to all such things. The present Left government is committed to the development needs of Kerala and to achieve that and accomplish the goals that the Left government has put up, there is no harm in such foreign trips," said Govindan.

Incidentally, while Vijayan was to have returned to the state on Wednesday, it has now been postponed to Friday, as he flew from the UK to Dubai, to be with his son who works there and he has no official engagements.