Ambiguity remains over the unknown sponsor of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his family’s overseas tour. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM also differs in opinion regarding the unknown person who spends crores on the CM and his family.
Vijayan has left for a foreign trip after postponing the public events scheduled for these days. When going abroad for official purposes, a newsletter is issued. The governor was also not informed about the travel details. This time, these were omitted as it was a private visit.
Vijayan’s daughter, Veena Vijayan, and her husband, Kerala PWD minister Mohammed Riyas, left earlier and reached Dubai on 2 May. Vijayan reached Dubai from Kochi with his wife Kamala and grandson Ishaan (Veena’s son from her former marriage).
They all went to Indonesia with the chief minister’s son, Vivek, who lives in the UAE. It is reported that Vijayan will fly from there to Singapore on the 12th and back to Dubai on the 19th. As far as we know, the return journey to Kerala will be on the 21st.
Kerala is experiencing a severe heat wave. Crops worth crores of rupees have already been destroyed, and fishermen’s misery due to inundation on the coast is not over. There is also a warning that heavy rain may follow soon. As the coffers are empty, the government must find money for next month’s daily expenses, including salaries.
When the state was going through such a severe crisis, pictures of Vijayan and his family’s excursion were sent to Kerala. The 19-day foreign tourist trip was organized after postponing a cabinet meeting, where crucial decisions needed to be made. As usual, no one was responsible in the absence of the Chief Minister.
Cabinet meetings will be held online if necessary, and files will be managed online. Government sources clarified that since the Election Code of Conduct has not been removed, the Chief Minister can make decisions only on matters of an urgent nature.
LDF convener E.P. Jayarajan explained that his CPM party knew the plans. However, when asked who the sponsor is, he did not reply. CPM State Secretary M.V. Govindan also did not respond.
The LDF convener said there is no need to reveal who sponsors the Chief Minister’s foreign trip. “You are not the one paying the cost. If the media does not know, it is their incompetence. There is no practice of delegating official duties to someone else. The party decides who will go and where to campaign. Why is there a controversy about the Chief Minister’s trip?”
“The Chief Minister has not violated any law. The party knew about the trip. I spoke to the Chief Minister the other day. We will decide for ourselves. Why do you decide?” EP Jayarajan asked. These words only raised suspicions about the sponsors.
After assuming power, the Kerala Chief Minister has made 20 foreign trips. All this was at the official level. Though crores were spent from the public coffers, Kerala did not benefit. The Chief Minister and his family’s taking a trip abroad at the expense of an unknown person is also causing discomfort in the communist party.
These trips were to countries like the USA, UK, UAE, Germany, Cuba, Switzerland, Japan, and the Netherlands. Even the Assembly’s questions regarding the amount spent on all these trips have not been answered. Allegedly, travelling at the expense of anonymous figures is to avoid these questions.
Pinarayi Vijayan is the only CPM Chief Minister in the country. Although the elections in Kerala are over, the contests in the Lok Sabha constituencies in North Bharat, led by the Indi alliance that includes the CPM, are still underway.
The foreign visit comes as campaigning occurs in states including West Bengal and Tripura, where the Left is actively contesting. Bengal has polling in all phases till 1 June. CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seek votes by sharing the same platform in other states. If Pinarayi is in the state, he must go there and seek votes for the Congress.
Vijayan is a senior CPM Politburo member who has no role outside Kerala. There is no indication that he will campaign in any state after returning from abroad on the 21st.
Pinarayi did not go to Tamil Nadu, where the CPM competes in two seats. There, the Left parties are in an alliance with M.K. Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress. Pinarayi, who led a vigorous campaign against the Congress in Kerala, was allegedly asked by the partners not to come to Tamil Nadu.
It takes 7 hours to reach Indonesia from Bharat and 12 hours to reach Indonesia via Dubai. Frequent flyers on Emirates flights only go to other destinations after reaching Dubai.
This time around, the contest is not with the Congress in Bengal and Tripura. Why go there and get embarrassed? There is also an allegation that Vijayan escaped since he must fetch votes for Congress.
