Prime Minister Narendra Modi would meet an all-party delegation from Kerala on July 19.
A communication to this effect was received at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office here on Friday. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had twice earlier denied clearance for a meeting between the State delegation and Mr. Modi.
In the latest instance, the Kerala delegation had sought permission to meet the Prime Minister to apprise him of the reduction in the State’s ration quota, the uncertainty about setting up the long-awaited railway coach factory at Kanjikode in Palakkad and various other development issues.
2016 request
The PMO had in 2016 turned down a request from the State government for taking an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister to submit a resolution adopted by the Kerala Assembly on the crisis in the cooperative sector post-demonetisation. The PMO had then informed the State government that the delegation could meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Rejecting the PMO’s suggestion, the Chief Minister had said, “We are not going to Delhi just to meet the Finance Minister. I had met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with our Finance Minister. We will communicate our strong protest against this to the Prime Minister.”
Kerala MPs had staged a strong protest in front of Parliament against the stance of the PMO. Mr. Vijayan too had come out strongly against accusing the Prime Minister of consistently ignoring Kerala and its demands. He had termed the PMO’s action a blow on the country’s federal structure. The federal system, he had said, required both States that were content and a Centre that was strong. The Chief Minister’s Office here said the delegation would in all probability leave for New Delhi on July 18 evening. Mr. Vijayan, who is currently in the US, is expected to return to the State on Monday.
