Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister V D Satheesan on Monday dismissed criticism over having a private lunch hosted by a Muslim League functionary in Ponnani on Saturday even as Kerala was grappling with widespread devastation caused by heavy rain and flooding. He termed all the allegations as a “malicious smear campaign”, asserting that there was nothing improper in his actions.Satheesan said he had lunch around 3pm at a friend’s residence and not at a public reception as alleged. “Am I not allowed to eat? Is having a meal a mistake? Let the people decide,” he said. He added that he had reached Ponnani around 3pm and asked what was inappropriate about taking time for lunch.The CM said he was in constant touch with officials during his journey and had spoken to them en route. He accused political opponents of resorting to baseless allegations as they had no substantive issues to raise. Drawing a comparison with the 2018 and 2019 floods, he asked whether the then CM had remained without food during the disaster response.He also defended his recent helicopter travel, denying allegations that it was a private trip. He said the journey was undertaken solely for official purposes to hold discussions with a prospective investment group. “It wasn’t for a party conference. I travelled for something that would benefit govt,” he said.However, Satheesan declined to reveal the identity of the investor group when asked. “Should I drag them into this controversy?” he asked.According to the CM, he had originally booked a ticket on Vande Bharat Express, but switched to a helicopter as the investors had limited time and had come to the state after meeting the Tamil Nadu chief minister. “My travel didn’t cause even a single rupee of extra loss to govt. The helicopter was hired at the same rate fixed by the previous govt,” he said.He hit back at the opposition, alleging that the previous CM had used funds from state disaster response fund for party-related travel, while maintaining that his own helicopter journey was entirely official.Responding to questions, Satheesan said he never criticised the former CM for using a helicopter.
