Thiruvananthapuram: In an unprecedented snub, Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to give an appointment to an all party delegation led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan which was to meet him in Delhi on Thursday to discuss cooperative sector crisis.
Soon after the PMO declined to give an appointment, the Chief Minister called an impromptu press conference to describe the Prime Minister’s snub as disrespect to the government and the people of the state. The all party delegation was to submit the Assembly resolution on the crisis caused by demonetisation. The PMO suggested that that the delegation could meet Union finance minister Arun Jaitley. However, the delegation decided to put of its Delhi visit on Thursday. At the press meet, the Chief Minister said; “We had contacted the PMO on Tuesday. Today we tried to fix the time of the meeting. But we got a reply that the delegation could meet the finance minister instead. They are not ready to understand sentiments expr-essed in the resolution passed by Kerala Assembly.”
The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister’s attitude could not be justified. “This is total injustice shown by the Centre. Normally those ruling at the Centre show the courtesy of meeting Chief Ministers and delegations. But Mr Modi is trying to suggest that such courtesies do not apply to him. This is what one can figure out from the PMO reply,” he said.
“One cannot expect such democratic courtesies from the government which is led by people who belong to an organisation that draws inspiration from fascist policies of Hitler and Mussolini. Their stand makes it more clear,” he said.
The Chief Minister said Resident Commissioner of Kerala has been directed to pass on the Assembly resolution to PMO.
“We have decided to put off our Delhi visit”.
When asked whether the PMO decision was influenced by BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekharan’s meeting with PM earlier in the day, he said it could be possible considering their party’s stand.
The Kerala Assembly had discussed the matter about cooperative sector in detail. A resolution was passed by Assembly and it was decided to send an all party delegation to meet Prime Minister and finance minister. Even though the BJP state unit had differences on the issue, BJP MLA Rajagopal had stated that the Centre should be apprised of the issues confronting the state’s cooperative sector.
