KOZHIKODE: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan openly complimented the Central government for its "creative response" and support towards the state's development. Speaking at a reception organised by the CPM-ruled Kozhikode corporation, he said that the responses by the prime minister and other ministers to the development needs of the state were very positive.
"You all know that we have political differences, but the truth is that it has not been reflected when we raised the general issues concerning the state," Vijayan said. He said that as Kerala does not have much financial resources, aid from the Centre is important for the region's development. "There had been some differences in this regard in the past, but our experience with the present Union Government had been different." Stating Minister of Road Transport Nitin Gadkari's example, the CM said he has promised that the Centre was ready to allot as much money that was needed for road development in the state.
"The minister said the money wouldn't be a problem if land was made available. Accordingly, the state government has decided to fast track the land acquisition for road development." The public praise comes is a change from the usual the 'Centre is neglecting us'. Vijayan, in the speech, added that the government was hopeful of wide bodied aircraft resuming operations from Karipur airport after the completion of the ongoing runway strengthening works. "There had been some confusion in the amount to be offered to local residents who have to part with their land as the minister mistakenly added one more zero in the amount. I have corrected in the assembly."
Interestingly, the CPM had in 2009 expelled former Kannur MP A P Abdullakutty for praising Narendra Modi while he was the Gujarat chief minister. The CPM Kannur district committee had accused the MP of breaching party discipline by joining "class enemies" after he said at a function in Dubai that Modi should be made the model for attracting private investment to a state. The CPM had also trained its gun on Shibu Baby John, the labour minister in the previous UDF government, for meeting Modi while on a visit to Gujarat in 2013.
