CM Pinarayi Vijayan orders mediapersons out of meeting for privacy of discussion

Thrissur: The mediapersons were ordered out of a function attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Saturday. They had turned up at the Kerala Sahithya Akademi hall where the chief minister held an interactive session with cultural activists and beneficiaries of welfare pensions, including artists, on the second anniversary of the LDF government.

After the presidential speech by minister A.K. Balan and welcome speech by cultural department secretary Rani George, the chief minister announced that he was open to criticism during the interactive session, but that mediapersons should leave the hall as they were not part of the discussions. After the CM's announcement, PRD officials asked a few journalists, who were reluctant to move out of the hall, to clear out.

At the beginning of the session, a delegate who worked as a teacher in Kannur for several years raised the issue of political murders and suggested the setting up of a panel consisting of members of all political parties so that complaints regarding political issues could be filed by all the parties for appropriate action.

PRD officials said that Mr Vijayan replied that there were panels to control the political violence in Kannur, but that those indulging in violence failed to accept the concept behind it in its true spirit. A PRD release quoted the chief minister as saying that Kerala was far better than other states in law and order and that political murders and criminal activities would be dealt with strongly. He also promised that the artist and welfare pensions would be hiked in a timely manner.