PM denies appointment to Kerala CM

Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused appointment to all-party delegation headed by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan that  proposed to meet Mr. Modi on Thursday to seek resolution of crisis in the cooperative sector following demonetisation.

The Prime Minister’s Office reportedly directed the delegation to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Following this, the delegation cancelled its trip to Delhi. The LDF has announced that it would observe Thursday as black day in protest against Mr. Modi’s decision.

The all-party delegation had sought appointment to meet the Prime Minister after the Assembly passed a substantive motion demanding that the cooperatives should be allowed to exchange demonetised notes. The motion would now be sent to Mr. Modi through Kerala’s Resident Commissioner in Delhi.

The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister denial of appointment to the delegation amounted to dishonour of the State. One could not expect democratic decencies from one leading the government of a party that takes inspiration from Hitler and Mussolini, he added.

Mr. Vijayan said that the government was not averse to meeting the Finance Minister. However, they had already met Mr. Jaitley. So, the government was not proposing another meeting with him now.

Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran also protested against the Prime Minister’s approach.  Mr. Sudheeran said that the Prime Minister was behaving like an autocrat. Mr. Chennithala said that Mr. Modi’s approach was a challenge to federal structure.

Congress leader A. K. Antony said that the Prime Minister’s was a haughty approach of an autocrat. He had refused to come to the Parliament and meet MPs. He would be forced to come to the Parliament.