Alappuzha: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with four of his ministers met SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan on Monday amid speculation that he might back the ruling coalition in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The chief minister reached at his Kanichukulangara residence here at 8.30 am before launching the pilgrim facilitation centre project of the tourism department at Kanichukulangara temple that Mr Natesan manages.
The SNDP Yogam leader and his wife Preethi Natesan received Mr Vijayan, Kadakampally Surendran, G. Sudhakaran, T.M. Thomas Isaac, and P. Thilothaman.
They spent 15 minutes there, exchanging pleasantries. The visit to the leader of the second largest community in the state comes a day after CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan rebuked Nair Service Society (NSS) for criticising the government. Natesan, who launched the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) headed by his son Thushar Vellappally and allied with the BJP ahead of 2016 state elections has since been keeping a distance from it. At the project launch, Mr Vijayan offered Rs 2 crore for its second phase in addition to the Rs 3 crore allotted now.
The project envisages shelters for temple rituals as well as tourists visiting Mararikulam beach. It was a hectic day for the chief minister as he flew to and from the state capital and launched many such projects in the district before the code of conduct for elections can come into force anytime next month. He inaugurated a non-beta-lactam plant at Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (KSDP), which can produce 158 types of medicines needed for government hospitals. Mr Isaac, the finance minister, inaugurated the work on a new non-beta-lactam injection plant and Mr Sudhakaran, the works minister, the distribution of free medicines to transplantees. KSDP chairman C.B. Chandrababu, U. Pratibha MLA, District Panchayat president G. Venugopal, district collector S. Suhas, Planning Board member Dr B. Iqbal and others spoke. Fisheries minister J. Mercykutty Amma presided over the inauguration of 1600 enterprises supported by Society for Assistance to Fisherwomen (SAF).
Mr Vijayan also launched a Coir Museum Complex project at Coir Corporation headquarters and a road development and canal rejuvenation projects. He flagged off construction works of Udayakumar district stadium project at Chengannur with an outlay of Rs 41.49 crore. In Kayamkulam, he opened a building complex for the women’s polytechnic.
