india

Updated: Apr 28, 2020 08:27 IST

The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for not taking part in the video conference called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country.

BJP state chief K Surendran said while the whole country was fighting the pandemic together, it was “inappropriate” on part of the Kerala chief minister to miss the meeting.

“Kerala chief minister said he had attended the last meeting and hence he did not attend today’s meeting. However, most of the chief ministers, who attended the last meeting, had attended Monday’s meeting. While the whole country is fighting the pandemic together, his absence cannot be justified,” Surendran said in a statement.

However, Vijayan, in his daily Covid-19 evaluation press meet, said the Union cabinet secretary had on Sunday informed that only a few chief ministers will have a chance to speak at the video conference.

Several issues were discussed by the Prime Minister and the heads of states at the digital meeting, and Kerala was the only state not represented by its chief minister.

Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose participated in the conference.

In the meeting, the southern state sought a staggered removal of the lockdown and an exclusive Covid-19 package. Another issue Kerala raised was the return of the migrant population from the Middle Eastern countries. It wants the Centre to expedite the evacuation.

As the nationwide lockdown is about to end on May 3, PM Modi underlined the key challenge of balancing lives and livelihood in the country.

The Prime Minister has already held three such meetings with chief ministers to discuss the situation in the country as it tackles a rising number of infections.