Keralam BJP chief slams Pinarayi Vijayan over event boycott, calls it 'manufactured controversy'

Keralam BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, while speaking to the reporters, said, "Let us be clear in what context this drama is happening. There are 30 days for the elections, the CPM CM very clearly knows that we won't remain the CM because the govt will be booted out by the people of Keralam for misgovernance and corruption. The head of state has been invited by Govt of India to a program. It is the duty of the CM to inform govt of India if he wants any other persons to be invited too. He has not done this. Where is it written that the son of the CM should be invited? The CM should have written to GoI and requested to also invite other people. Today, what they are doing is a manufactured controversy to distract people from projects to be launched in Keralam today. This state is a mess today due to the misgovernance of Pinarayi Vijayan..."

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Keralam Education Minister V Sivankutty alleged that the Union government has "deliberately excluded" state ministers from the inauguration ceremony of National Highway 66, despite the state contributing around Rs 5,580 crore for land acquisition for the project, among other contributions.

Speaking to ANI, Sivankutty said the state government had not even been formally invited to the event, even though it played a key role in facilitating the highway's development.

"It is shocking that representatives of the state government have been deliberately excluded from the inauguration ceremony of National Highway 66 (India), which was completed after the state government spent a huge amount of money for land acquisition. The state government has not been given a proper invitation," Minister Sivankutty said.

Earlier, on Monday The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting of its Kerala leadership at the residence of former national president JP Nadda in Delhi to discuss preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

The meeting, which began at 6 pm, lasted for nearly two hours and focused on the candidate list, state strategy, manifesto, slogans, and other things.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, former party chief JP Nadda, Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, former Union minister V Muraleedharan, Kummanam Rajasekharan, K Surendran, Aparajita Sarangi, Prakash Javadekar, Vinod Tawde, Bhupendra Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje and BJP National Executive member PK Krishnadas were among those present at the meeting.

After the meeting, state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and senior leader V Muraleedharan said detailed discussions were held on the party's election preparations. They said the Kerala unit presented its election plan to the central leadership, and deliberations were held on the proposed list of candidates.

According to party leaders, the BJP is likely to announce its candidates in two phases. The final decision on the candidates will be taken at the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled for March 12, which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top leaders.

The BJP plans to contest around 100 seats in Kerala, while its allies Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) and Twenty20 are expected to contest the remaining 40 seats as part of the alliance. (ANI)