No invite for PWD Minister, PM's NH 66 inauguration sparks row in Kerala, state plans parallel event

A political row erupted over the inauguration of development projects in Kerala by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state ministers boycotted the event after PWD Minister P A Mohammed Riyas was not invited for the function.

The inauguration of Thalapady-Chengala and Vengalam-Ramanattukara sections was scheduled online on Wednesday. With the PWD minister being excluded from the event, the state government has planned a parallel inauguration event for the Vengalam-Ramanattukara section at 12 pm. 

Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala ministers K Krishnankutty and M B Rajesh were the invitees for the event scheduled to be inaugurated by Modi. The Chief Minister and other ministers skipped the event after Riyas was excluded from it. Riyas didn't conceal the displeasure, calling it a violation of protocol. He criticised the centre's decision to exclude him from the inaugural event of the National Highway 66, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the six-lane highway.

Modi had arrived at the state and is scheduled to inaugurate various development projects, including the Thalappady-Chengala stretch of the six-lane expansion of National Highway 66. However, the event has come under scrutiny after Muhammad Riyas, despite being the PWD Minister, was excluded, while the BJP's State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar was invited. 

Riyas said the LDF government had taken up the project after the UDF had abandoned it. He alleged that the centre had declined the state's request for funding for the project, which forced the state to bear the entire cost. "The state government had two options; either abandon the project or find the funds ourselves to finance it," he said.

However, given the need for such a highway in the state, the government undertook the project, he added. He said that, in the history of the country, no state had ever funded a National Highway project. He added that the ₹5600 crores sourced for the project had to be borrowed under KIIFB and has resulted in a debt of almost ₹12,000 crores.

Kerala Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh also strongly criticised the decision to exclude Public Works Minister from the inauguration ceremony. Rajesh alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was using public funds for political propaganda and said the move reflected the party’s “narrow political mindset”. He said he had already decided not to attend the function, adding that he would not stand for such “absurdities” when he had official engagements in his own constituency. Rajesh also recalled an earlier function in Thiruvananthapuram where SPG personnel allegedly asked him to produce his Aadhaar card despite having a VIP pass, an incident he described as insulting before protocol officers intervened. 

Riyas also pointed out that BJP's State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar was invited to the event while the state's PWD minister wasn't. He called it Kerala's right that the representatives elected by the people be invited to events they are associated with. He added that the logic of inviting the BJP's state president should have extended to the KPCC President and the CPM state secretary as well. He also stated that if this move is an attempt to establish that the LDF Government had no role to play over the Highway's construction, the people would not fall for it. "This is not an insult to the PWD or the government, but to the state" he added.

However, Rajeev Chandrasekhar responded to the allegations, stating that the Chief Minister was invited in his capacity as the head of the state, and the protocol was not broken in not inviting Riyas. 
"We invited the Chief Minister. It is not written anywhere that the Chief Minister's son-in-law also has to be invited," he said.

He dismissed the allegations, calling them tricks to create controversies before elections. He added that if the Chief Minister preferred the PWD Minister's presence, he could have given it in writing 7 days in advance. When asked why he himself was invited, Rajeev Chandrasekhar added that it was in his capacity as a former Minister.