No caretaker CM during Pinarayi's US trip, online meeting with ministers on Wednesdays

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is set to travel to the US for treatment this month, will not handover his duties to anyone during his absence.

The chief minister will preside over the council of ministers' meetings online on Wednesdays. The CM will take the decisions on important files through the e-filing method.

The next ministerial meet will be held online on January 19.

The Chief Minister had presided the last meeting with the ministers virtually as he was in Kozhikode for the CPM district meet.

The CM made his decision clear after speculations were rife on who would be the caretaker chief minister in Pinarayi's absence.

The chief minister will visit USA on January 15 and return on January 29. Pinarayi will undergo a medical check-up at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He will be accompanied by his wife T Kamala and personal assistant VM Suneesh.

In September 2018, before his US visit for treatment, the chief minister had deputised then Industries Minister EP Jayarajan to handle the donations to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund in the aftermath of the floods. Prior to that, in July, AK Balan had acted as the caretaker when Pinarayi went on a 13-day visit to the US for treatment.

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