Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan denied meeting with Narendra Modi for fourth time in a row

For the fourth time in a row, the Prime Minister’s Office denied an appointment to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is currently in New Delhi to attend a CPM central committee meeting. Sources in Vijayan’s office said the PMO had refused to give an appointment to him during an all-party delegation on Thursday. The all-party delegation was planning to meet Modi to discuss disparities in ration allocation to Kerala. [caption id=“attachment_4267341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. News18[/caption] However, according to the report on News18, the PMO had responded to Vijayan’s request, saying that he could meet Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan if needed. Earlier this month too, Vijayan had sought an appointment with the prime minister to discuss the issue, but his request was similarly turned down. Vijayan was among the four non-NDA chief ministers who met Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife at their official residence during Kejriwal’s dharna last week. He had also written a letter to Modi seeking his intervention to end the standoff in Delhi. In March 2017 as well, Vijayan’s office had sought an appointment to appraise the prime minister about the Budget allocation to the state, but it did not go through. The first attempt regarding a meeting was made by the Kerala chief minister in November 2016, days after the Modi government brought in demonetisation. He had sought an appointment with the prime minister to discuss issues regarding the note ban. However, the meeting never took place.