KOCHI, Mar 11: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and several state ministers decided to skip Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official event on Wednesday, following the alleged exclusion of the state’s PWD Minister P A Mohammed Riyas from the programme.
The Prime Minister was scheduled to inaugurate multiple development projects, including the first stretch of the six-lane expansion of National Highway 66, during the official function at 12:30 pm. The projects include the Thalappady–Chengala stretch of NH 66 and the Vengalam–Ramanattukara stretch of the Kozhikode bypass, both upgraded to six lanes.
Government sources said Chief Minister Vijayan will not attend the event, despite his name appearing in the programme schedule. State Ministers M B Rajesh and K Krishnankutty, though invited, also opted out citing personal reasons.
Reacting to the exclusion, Minister Riyas said he had not received any official invitation and described the move as “political” and “not befitting a democracy.” He added that previous PWD ministers had always been invited to such inaugurations, and excluding anyone does not erase their contribution from public memory.
Riyas highlighted that the state government played a crucial role in the National Highway project by facilitating land acquisition and funding. He said the project was revived only after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power in 2016, following a period when the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had reportedly abandoned it. He further noted that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and NHAI officials had repeatedly appreciated the coordination led by the Kerala CM and PWD department.
Criticising the inclusion of BJP state president Rajeev Chandrashekhar in the event, Riyas questioned whether the party president should replace the PWD minister at such inaugurations, asserting that attempts to erase the LDF government’s role would not succeed.
Meanwhile, M B Rajesh explained that he only learned of his inclusion in the programme on Tuesday and had prior constituency commitments. “I am not attending the PM’s programme as I already have scheduled events in my constituency,” he said, adding that he had a negative experience during a previous event with PM Modi in Thiruvananthapuram, where SPG officials asked to see his Aadhaar card despite holding a VIP pass approved by the PMO.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty called Riyas’ exclusion “shocking” and politically motivated, noting Kerala was the first state in India to directly fund national highway development. He said sidelining the state government and PWD in the project violated democratic norms and accused the BJP of trying to politicize a project funded with “the sweat and money” of Kerala.
Senior BJP leader B Gopalakrishnan countered, claiming the LDF and CPI(M) were attempting to consolidate Muslim votes ahead of the Assembly polls by boycotting the PM’s event. (Agencies)
