'What is the point of this meeting?' CM Pinarayi Vijayan walks out of meeting called by CPI ministers

KOCHI: The Chief Minister quickly ended the meeting called by CPI ministers regarding paddy procurement on Tuesday. The meeting, called by the Food and Civil Supplies Department in Ernakulam, was ended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in five minutes after he expressed discontent over the absence of mill owners.

The meeting was called by the CPI-ruled Food and Civil Supplies Department. Apart from CPI ministers GR Anil and Agriculture Minister P Prasad, Finance Minister KN Balagopal, Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty, and top IAS officers were present at the meeting.

As soon as the meeting started, the Chief Minister enquired about the mill owners. The Food Minister responded that the mill owners were not invited since it was an official-level meeting. An incensed Chief Minister questioned the intent behind such a meeting without the participation of mill owners. The ministers informed that the meeting's agenda had been communicated to the Chief Minister's office, but Pinarayi Vijayan gave no ear to their talks.

The Chief Minister then adjourned the meeting within a few minutes. The Chief Minister left, saying that he would meet the mill owners in Thiruvananthapuram at 4 pm tomorrow.

When asked by the media whether this walkout by the chief minister had anything to do with the recent tensions between CPI and CPM, the ministers responded that they would not have cared to attend the meeting if the story about those 'tensions' were true.