Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 18 (IANS) CWC member and senior Congress MLA Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of using his Middle East tour as a political exercise ahead of the assembly elections aimed at securing investments for the state.
Chennithala said the government was “emptying the state coffers” to fund election-oriented foreign tours.
Kerala will have local body elections in a few weeks from now and assembly elections in April/May.
Chennithala said, “The Chief Minister’s priority is not the welfare of Kerala, but the electoral interests of his party. The government is considering this foreign trip with the elections in mind.”
Vijayan reached Bahrain on Thursday and will visit UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.
Incidentally, during this marathon Middle East tour, he will return to Kerala twice, and the tour will end on the 30th of this month.
He is also accompanied by his trusted close aide, state Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian.
Saudi Arabia was also in this list, but the Center refused to approve it.
The Congress leader pointed out that from 2016 to 2025, Vijayan and his team made about 25 foreign trips, claiming that none of these brought any concrete economic benefit to the state.
He said, “The government’s own agency – Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation – admitted in response to an RTI that not a single MoU has been signed as a result of these foreign visits. Not a single rupee of investment has come to Kerala from them.”
Chennithala alleged that the government was misusing foreign tours to make political capital and garner support from expatriate communities ahead of the elections.
He quipped, “What did not happen in nine years will not happen now. Even a child can see the political motive behind this tour.”
–IANS
sg/and