Thiruvananthapuram: Media persons in the Kerala capital were kept out of the hall where chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan held parleys with the district collectors and departmental heads on Thursday.
Media persons left the hall at the government guest house where the meeting was held, after they were told by officials that the chief minister did not appreciate their presence there.
The incident brought back memories of the chief minister angrily asking journalists to “clear out” of a room where he had arrived for discussions two months ago with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the state capital, to try and iron out peace between the warring cadres of the two parties.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister did not respond to media persons’ query about the allegation of the Communist Party of India Marxist state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan travelling in a car belonging to a person who is an accused in a gold smuggling case.
The allegation was raised by the Indian Union Muslim League. Balakrishnan himself responded to the allegation by stating that the car was a hired vehicle, adding that the party would conduct a probe into the allegation. The CPM state secretary had travelled in the car during the party’s Jan Jagrata (people’s awareness) rally this week.
On social media, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was criticised by many for his act of keeping the media away.
“This is clear proof of the intolerance of the chief minister”, commented one, while another said, “What a furore there would have been if prime minister Narendra Modi had taken such a stance”.
The use of luxury cars by CPM leaders has also led to heated arguments on social media. While Balakrishnan was seen in a Mini Cooper, four years ago a controversy was triggered when senior CPM leader E.P. Jayarajan had used a Land Rover to reach the venue of a farmers’ protest.
