Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday claimed innocence with regard to the controversy over a now-cancelled Government order directing payment of the expenses – Rs 8 lakh – of his helicopter trips to and from the venue of a district conference of his party from the State Disaster Relief Fund in the context of the recent Cyclone Ockhi by stating that he was not aware of the matter and required instructions had been issued to correct the mistake.
“That the expenses of my helicopter trips were paid from the Disaster Relief Fund had come to (my) knowledge only yesterday (Tuesday) evening. Instructions were immediately issued to correct it by directing for payment from the general fund,” Pinarayi said on Wednesday evening even as indications came that the CPI(M) might decide to pay the money from own pocket.
Speaking at the public meeting held as part of the CPI(M)’s Idukki district conference, Pinarayi said that the Chief Ministers’ travel expenses were always being met by the Government and that such things were being handled by officials. Former Chief Ministers of the State also had travelled by helicopters and there was nothing strange about his trip, he claimed.
The row pertains to an order issued by PH Kurien, Additional Chief Secretary in the Revenue Department, instructing payment of Rs 8 lakh from the disaster relief fund towards expenses for a helicopter taken by Pinarayi from Thriprayar in Thrissur, where he was attending the CPI(M)’s district meet, on December 26 to Thiruvananthapuram and back on the same day.
Pinarayi had rushed by the chartered helicopter from Thrissur to Thiruvananthapuram to meet the Central team that had arrived there to assess the cyclone damages and he returned to Thrissur by the same chopper within hours.
The justification reportedly given for diverting the money from the disaster relief fund was that he had taken the trip in connection with the cyclone.
Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan of the CPI, second biggest partner in the ruling LDF, said neither he nor his office had any information on such an order issued by the Secretary of his own department. On Wednesday, he sought an explanation from Kurien for issuing the order, which was cancelled on Tuesday after reports about it appeared in the media.
“I don’t know anything about a demand for an explanation. If I am asked, I will give a reply,” was how Kurien responded to questions from the media. Asked whether Pinarayi had known of the matter, he said he did not have anything more to say. Kurien is reported to have told the Chief Minister that he had issued the order as per instructions from the then Chief Secretary.
Wednesday also saw the collapse of claims made by the Chief Minister’s office and the State police chief, DGP Loknath Behera, that they had no information about the order. It has been revealed that copies of the order had been forwarded to Chief Minister’s private secretary MV Jayarajan and the police chief on January 6 itself.
“We are responsible only for security,” was how the DGP had claimed innocence. But it was revealed later that Kurien had issued the instruction of payment for the Chief Minister’s chopper trips on the basis of a requisition from the DGP himself. A report quoting the aviation company which had rented out the chopper said that the booking was done by the police chief himself.
The controversy has created a crisis for the Chief Minister who is still facing the charge of failing to deal effectively with the cyclone disaster in several ways.
The people in Vizhinjam, a fishing village in Thiruvananthapuram which was hit badly by the cyclone had blocked him when he went there three days after the storm struck the Kerala coast.
“The Chief Minister was being extremely cruel towards the poor cyclone-hit people,” alleged State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan. “What the Government had done in this matter is in tune with the approach it had taken from the very beginning of the disaster,” the BJP leader said.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress asked, “If the CM’s office does not know about crucial things like this, why should he have an office?” State Congress president MM Hassan demanded registration of a case against Pinarayi for corruption. “There is no meaning in saying that the order has been cancelled,” he said.