A few hours before Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan began his sunset briefing on June 25, up north in Delhi Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan made fun of Vijayan's plans for returnees from abroad, especially the offer to provide TrueNat machines to countries in the Gulf.
“When someone goes to the Gulf, it is usual for us to pack them some pickles and such stuff. I am not sure whether the Chief Minister had thought that a TrueNat machine was something that could be packed and given to those flying to the Gulf,” he said.
Given that he had earned massive bonus points for blasting KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran on live television, it was expected that Pinarayi Vijayan would tear into Muraleedharan during the media interaction.
He did not. He played it subtle. The Chief Minister suppressed a guffaw, giving the impression that the man who made the charges was a big joke. This was how he treated opposition leader Ramesh Chenithala a while ago.
Soon, it became clear that the Chief Minister's Office had no intention of letting Muraleedharan off lightly. It had an ace up its sleeve. Nearly an hour after the media briefing, just late enough to block an immediate reply from the union minister, the CMO 'leaked' a letter received that day by Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta from a senior secretary, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, in the External Affairs Ministry.
It seemed like a letter of appreciation. “I must compliment the Government of Kerala for its pragmatic approach in trying to contain the spread of the virus. The measure proposed by you of wearing an N95 mask, face shield, hand gloves, etc. will minimise the chances of transmission,” the letter said.
While a union minister was busy foul-mouthing the state government, the letter appeared to demonstrate what the Centre actually thought about Kerala's efforts. Pinarayi himself could not have said it more sharply. It was as if the letter served the knockout punch.
Calling the Kerala press contingent was perhaps the first thing that union minister Muraleedharan did on Friday. The 'leak' had clearly rattled him. If on June 25 (Thursday) he looked composed and at his sarcastic best, on Friday Muraleedharan was slightly edgy, hinting at desperation to set things right.
“How can you ever call this a congratulation. This was just a compliment for finally having seen some sense,” Muraleedharan said. “Can't the people in the Chief Minister's PR team understand the difference between a congratulation and a compliment? He should at least ensure that people who understand English are in his team,” he added.
The letter they leaked out was the second letter, he said. The first one, sent a day earlier on June 24, had told the Chief Secretary that it was impractical to insist on Kerala-specific guidelines for the return of non-resident Indians.
Here is what the June 24 letter, sent by Sanjay Bhattacharyya himself, said: “There are a significant number of Indians including those domiciled in Kerala seeking to return from the Gulf to India. The VBM (Vande Bharat Mission) flights apply the same norm for all departing passengers, irrespective of the destination in Inda based on the facilities available in the particular Gulf country. At this stage, it would not be practical to have different guidelines or norms for different states of India for VBM flights.”
Muraleedharan said the Kerala government then replied to the Union External Affairs Ministry dropping its insistence on mandatory tests. “It was this pragmatic approach that was complimented. We were just telling the Kerala government that we were happy that you eventually realised your folly,” Muraleedharan said. “And they have very conveniently kept the June 24 letter, which told them their approach was foolish, hidden,” he added.
The union minister said it was both reprehensible and cheap to use a missive from the Centre for public relations purposes. “The Centre regularly writes to states. In April, an inter-ministerial team had appreciated Telangana for the work it had done to contain COVID. In March, Haryana was lauded for the timely disposal of public grievances related to COVID. Has anyone heard of these states using these letters for PR exercises,” Muraleedharan said.
