Thiruvananthapuram: In the first of its kind protest, the Kerala Assembly on Monday passed a resolution alleging that Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan was slighted during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to the state.
The unusual resolution moved by Law Minister M Vijayakumar was approved amid a walkout by Congress-led UDF Opposition after a nearly hour-long heated exchanges between the ruling LDF and Opposition members.
It also decided to apprise the Centre about the state's resentment over the manner in which the 87-year-old CPI-M veteran was ignored during Singh's three-day visit from February 10.
The matter raised by Anathalavattom Anandan (CPIM) through a submission virtually turned into a debate with Achuthanandan and some of his cabinet colleagues narrating their experiences during the Prime Minister's visit.
Achuthanandan said he was not provided a room at the Taj hotel at Kochi where Singh stayed overnight on arrival on February 10.
LDF members alleged that in an insult to the state as a whole the Chief Minister's name was also not inscribed on the plaque which was unveiled by Singh at the inauguration of the International terminal at the airport here.
They also said the media advertisement for the inauguration of Vallarpadam transhipment terminal did not have the Chief Minister's picture.
Opposition leader Oommen Chandy said it was very unfortunate that LDF was converting the Prime Minister's visit into a controversy by raking up issues like this and walked out of the House with UDF members.
Ministers Elamaram Kareem and C Divakaran also narrated their experiences when they went to the BrahMos Aerospace function here as state's representatives during Singh visit to the hi-tech unit.
The ministers' grievances in this regard were voiced by Achuthanandan in the presence of Singh at the airport function on February 12. The chief minister had also stated that the state government had been neglected, but it did not take this seriously as realisation of the projects was more important.
Comments
0 comment