Satheesan's late lunch at a friend's place and a helicopter ride to thwart TN CM Vijay's plans

Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Monday refuted the twin charges of helicopter misuse and callous self-absorption during a time of crisis. The helicopter, he asserted, was used only for an official purpose, to lure an investor to Kerala. And as for the Ponnani lunch that went viral, he asked: "Is it wrong for a Chief Minister to have food?"

The Chief Minister was sharply criticised by the CPM for attending what was called a "grand feast" in Ponnani on August 1 when rains were upending lives around him. The CM seemed to suggest that the lunch happened before nature went rogue on August 1.

Satheesan said he had received information about the disaster by around five in the evening, and did everything that was required of him. "I contacted the revenue minister, the chief secretary, the ministers in charge of affected districts, all the district collectors and by then all ministers had reached the disaster areas," the CM said after an emergency monsoon review meeting. The CM said that the MLAs themselves advised him that it was not necessary for him to reach the spot. 

"The only mistake I committed that day was to have food at 3 pm," Satheesan said with hands pressed together in a mock plead for mercy. "I had no idea that when there were floods in 2018, the then Chief Minister had gone on a fast," he added sarcastically. 

"I reached C Haridas (senior Congress leader) sir's house at around 3 pm. Food was arranged for me in the next house, my friend's place," Satheesan said. The friend he referred to was Youth League vice president Faizal Bafaqui Thangal. Thangal himself had posted a video of the grand reception he accorded the CM and the lavish spread that was served in his honour.  

One of the comments under Thangal's video read: "Here is Satheesan's programme on the day Kerala witnessed one of the highest downpour in history and a time when he should have inevitably been at the disaster management headquarters. Morning: Hospital visit to meet father-in-law. Noon: Thulabharam with jaggery in temple. Evening: Mutton biriyani with League leaders in Ponnani."

The CM called it "heinous propaganda". "Is it wrong for me to have food," he said.

When told that the pictures of him having a sumptuous meal did not sit well with the images of the losses all around, he shot back: "What is wrong in publishing a photograph of people having food". Once again he went back to the mock apology mode with hands pressed like in prayer: "It was wrong for me to have food. I will not do it again."

When he was told that he could have kept away from the "feast", he said: "I was not attending a feast. I was just having food." Perhaps to play down the grandeur of the lunch he was served, Satheesan alluded to the generous hospitality of Malabar people. "You know how it is when you visit a house in Malabar for coffee," he said, and then with sneering sarcasm said: "You have nothing else to say and that is why you have raised this issue. It is only now that I have realised that the Chief Minister cannot have food."

The CM helicopter journey on July 31 had also run into rough weather, both in real and also politically. The helicopter that took off from Thiruvananthapuram with the CM at 9.30 am was forced to land back in Thiruvananthapuram due to inclement weather. It was only around 12 noon that the CM could resume his flight to Kochi.

The opposition alleged that the CM used the helicopter to visit his ailing father-in-law. "A government helicopter flew from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi, not once but twice. Not for any official purpose. Strictly personal. Did anyone hear the beating of chests crying 'splurge' 'splurge'," said former minister and CPM leader M B Rajesh in a Facebook post. The last part of Rajesh's post was an indirect reference to the UDF outbursts against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's helicopter use.

First of all, Satheesan said that he had never complained about the former Chief Minister's helicopter travels. "And two, it was widely said that I had used the helicopter for my personal use. Fact is, I went to meet an investment group in Kochi," the CM said.

He seemed to suggest that he had to hurry in a helicopter after the group had a sudden change of plan and had to quickly leave Kochi. "They had said that they would meet me over dinner. They came to Kochi after meeting the Tamil Nadu CM (Joseph Vijay). I had booked a ticket to Kochi in Vande Bharat to meet them for dinner. But something important came up and they had to rush back to Delhi. Since Tamil Nadu was also trying to get the investment, I had to see them before they leave. If not, it would have invited criticism that I had not tried enough," the CM said.

In other words, the investment team that met Tamil Nadu CM Vijay at his convenience broke the appointment with the Kerala CM on a whim and thus forced a desperate Kerala CM to hop on an idling helicopter to meet a group that comes across as both disinterested and disrespectful. The CM did not reveal the identity of the investment group.

Further, Satheesan said that his helicopter journey would not cost the exchequer a single rupee. "The last government had rented this helicopter till September 19. It is another matter that the company has not been paid rent for five months. The rent is 80 lakh per month. Flying time of 25 hours a month is free under the package. Even if we don't fly 25 hours a month, we still have to pay the monthly rent of ₹80 lakh. This month the government had used the helicopter for at most one or two hours, to fly two ministers and the Chief Minister to Wayanad," the CM said. 

And then he paid a backhanded compliment to Pinarayi Vijayan. "I have not gone to my party's conferences in a helicopter," he said, and added: "It should also not be forgotten that money was reimbursed from the state disaster management fund (SDRF) for the former Chief Minister to attend a party conference. Please don't force me to recall the past."

This was a reference to a 2018 incident in which the then Chief Minister's journey from Thiruvananthapuram to a CPM conference in Thrissur was billed to the SDRF. The instant backlash forced the Chief Minister's office to cancel the order. Instead, the General Administration Department was asked to pick up the tab.