‘Publish the list of those 787 people’: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan asks Chief Minister V D Satheesan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has hit back at Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s allegation that 787 people were appointed to the personal staff of ministers during the previous LDF government. Pinarayi said the Chief Minister’s claim was not based on facts and challenged him to publish the list of the 787 people.

“It is not appropriate for the Chief Minister to misrepresent even matters for which clear records are available. The Chief Minister himself should reveal the list of the 787 people he is referring to,” Pinarayi said.

Pinarayi said the previous cabinet had 32 personal staff members for the Chief Minister, while each of the other ministers had fewer than 25.

“During the five-year term, four ministers (M V Govindan, K Radhakrishnan, Ahamed Devarkovil and Antony Raju) were replaced by new ministers. Saji Cherian also resigned and later returned to the cabinet. Even with these changes, the total number of personal staff members was not increased,” he said.

According to Pinarayi, the total number of personal staff members in the previous government was below 500.

“When there are clear records regarding all these matters, where did the Chief Minister get the figure of 787?” Pinarayi asked.

He reiterated his demand that the Chief Minister make the list public. “The Chief Minister should publish the list of those 787 people,” Pinarayi said.