Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday aimed a dig at external affairs minister S Jaishankar for examining an under-construction flyover in the state capital on July 11, with the latter retorting that it was wrong to see politics everywhere.
The chief minister criticised the minister, who is on a three-day visit to the state capital, saying that he was surprised to see the photograph carried by the media on Tuesday.
“The minister is entrusted to look at world affairs, but he was seen inspecting a flyover in Kazhakootam. People of the state will understand it was not a mere inspection of the flyover alone,” he said, hinting that Jaishankar’s visit was with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
“Today, all major newspapers carried the photo of the minister. I don’t know why he inspected the flyover,” he said while speaking at a function in the state capital, drawing a political angle on Jaishankar’s three-day visit.
However, responding to the comments, Jaishankar said it was wrong to see politics everywhere, and he came to the state to see how central schemes were reaching people. Nobody should be concerned about his visit. The foreign minister said that he came to Thiruvananthapuram to see for himself and get feedback on the grassroots-level development of various schemes.
“I don’t why the CM sees politics everywhere. It is not a politically-motivated visit. I was visiting some centrally-sponsored programmes to get first-hand knowledge about them. Nobody needs to be concerned about it,” he said.
Jaishankar also reiterated that the truth behind the gold smuggling case would come out soon. “Since it is a sensitive issue concerning the consulate of a foreign country, I cannot say anything now,” he said.
Later in the day, the minister of state for external affairs, V Muraleedharan, said if Vijayan had any misunderstanding that the foreign minister’s job is to travel always and live abroad, it is time for the chief minister to correct it. “We can understand his worries and apprehensions. If he has nothing to hide in the gold smuggling case, why is he worried like this,” he said.
