Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “discriminating” against Kerala by stalling his efforts to mobilise funds for rebuilding Kerala after the recent floods that devastated the state.
More than 400 people were killed and property worth thousands of crores destroyed in the Kerala floods.
In a Facebook post, Kerala CM alleged that the prime minister has backed out from his promise of granting clearance for the visits of state cabinet ministers to various countries to raise funds for the reconstruction work in the state.
A total of 15 ministers from Kerala had scheduled their visits to 13 countries to seek support of the global Malayali community for the rebuilding projects. However, the Ministry of External Affairs has reportedly denied permission for their travel.
Chief Minister Vijayan was however granted permission to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He has alleged that the prime minister’s action amounts to discrimination against Kerala. He said when Modi was the CM of Gujarat, he visited foreign countries seeking support of the Gujarati community to rebuild the state after the Bhuj earthquake.
According to Vijayan, when he met Modi, he requested his support for the clearance of his ministers’ travel. Vijayan said that the PM had then offered all help. “But, the External Affairs Ministry denied permission at the last minute. I don’t understand the reason for the denial of the travel. PM didn’t keep his promise he had given to me,” Vijayan said in his post.
“After the deluge, many countries, including the UAE, had offered their support. But the Union government denied permission for receiving foreign aid. Kerala is not ready to fail before anyone and we need to re-construct our homeland. Nobody can stop Kerala from rebuilding the state. The Malayali diaspora is our strength and I’ve full faith in them. I appeal to you all to join hands for rebuilding Kerala,” he said.