It was a rather hectic ‘Business Day’ from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in Delhi on Thursday, during which period he met five Union Ministers, besides keeping his appointments with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Congress Working Committee member A K Antony.
Mr. Chandy arrived in Delhi late in the night on Wednesday. Starting off from the Kerala House at 9 a.m., he first met Union Human Resources Minister Smriti Irani to thank her for sanctioning the Indian Institute of Technology for Kerala.
He later called on Union Environment Minister Prakash Javedkar seeking amendments to the Coastal Zone Regulation laws to provide relief to the poor fishermen community in the coastal areas and other allied issues. The scene shifted to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s office, with the Chief Minister petitioning Mr. Jaitley for a special package for the State to help it tide over its financial problems, besides asking for funding for Vizhijam International Transhipment Terminal to bridge its viability gap.
Hostages in Somalia
In between, he called on Union Minister for Transport, Highways and Shipping to petition him on Keralites held hostage by Somalia pirates.
When he met Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, the Chief Minister sought her intervention in several cases where Keralites were stranded in various countries.
Mixing administrative issues with the political, Mr. Chandy is presumed to have broached the issue of Cabinet reshuffle with the Congress High Command. True to his style of functioning, Mr. Chandy took the evening flight back home.
