Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when Kerala is battling its worst ever floods in nearly a century and everyone from residents, politicians and bureaucrats have come together to provide relief, the state’s forest and wildlife protection minister K Raju is in Germany to attend a conference.

Raju, who represents Punalur assembly constituency, has now been called back by the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) state leadership after receiving a lot of flak. He will return to Kerala within two days, the minister’s office told News18.

News18 Kerala had reported about the minister’s absence from the flood-ravaged state, where 324 people have been killed and more than 2 lakh have been made homeless. More misery is in store as the weather department as predicted more heavy rains for the next few days.

Raju’s foreign trip had come under severe criticism as the government is working hard to rescue the people affected by the floods. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself has cancelled a 19-day trip to the United States for treatment. He instead decided to stay back to coordinate the recue and relief works.

CPI state leadership has expressed unhappiness over Raju’s visit and asked him to return to the state immediately. He had gone to attend the 11th Global Conference organized by World Malayalee Council in Bayern from August 17 to 19.