Kochi, March 11 Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kochi on Wednesday to launch a series of major development projects and kick-off the NDA's election campaign in Kerala.
PM Modi landed at Cochin International Airport around 11.35 a.m.
He has a schedule that includes the inauguration of infrastructure projects worth thousands of crores and a political rally of the National Democratic Alliance ahead of the Assembly elections.
He will also conduct a road show at Kaloor. Around 3 p.m., PM Modi will leave for Tamil Nadu.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other senior members of the state government skipped the official function following a controversy over the "exclusion" of State Public Works Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas from the inauguration ceremony.
Riyas, who handles the portfolio responsible for roads and highways in the state, was reportedly not invited to the event.
The projects include the six lane Thalappady–Chengala stretch of National Highway 66 and the six lane Vengalam–Ramanattukara stretch of the Kozhikode bypass, both part of the ongoing expansion of the national highway network in Kerala.
The omission triggered sharp criticism from the ruling Left Democratic Front, which termed it a breach of established convention.
Traditionally, the state minister in charge of the concerned department is invited to such programmes.
State General Education Minister V. Sivankutty said the development was unprecedented.
"It is a convention that the state minister handling the portfolio be invited. Surprisingly, the state BJP president has been invited. If that is the case, then leaders of other political parties should also have been invited,” he said.
Sivankutty added that such an exclusion was unheard of and alleged that the BJP was attempting to take sole credit for projects executed with the cooperation of the state government.
"This appears to be an attempt by the BJP to take credit for the projects. It is a challenge to the people of Kerala," he said.
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