Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

The bill for a helicopter that was hired for a journey conducted by the Kerala Chief Minister was funded from the state’s disaster relief fund. With the issue triggering a row, the chief minister’s office said the order for payment would be cancelled.

On December 26, the private helicopter was hired for CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s journey to and from Thrissur to attend a CPM district conference. On January 6, the government issued an order asking the Thiruvananthapuram district collector to release Rs 8 lakh towards the invoice of the helicopter hired for the journey of the CM. The order, however, said the journey was for a meeting with an inter-ministerial central team, which was in Kerala to assess the Ockhi cyclone situation.

The request for payment was placed before the Revenue Department, which handles disaster management, by the police department. The helicopter firm had sought Rs 13 lakh, but it was brought down to Rs 8 lakh after negotiations, said the order.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said Vijayan’s action was equal to stealing from a beggar’s bowl. “It is unfortunate that the disaster relief fund was diverted for meeting the helicopter bill of the CM,” he said.

The CMO later said the order would be cancelled as per the CM’s direction. The order was issued without the knowledge of the chief minister, it said.

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