Congress criticises Kerala CM for attending official event during Manmohan Singh's funeral

Kochi, Dec 28 (PTI) The Congress in Kerala on Saturday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for participating in an official inauguration ceremony at the international airport here while the nation was mourning the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

    Speaking to reporters here, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan described the Chief Minister’s action as "disrespectful" and "inappropriate".
    It is disrespectful and inappropriate for someone like the CM to attend and inaugurate an official event at Kochi airport while the funeral of Manmohan Singh, who served as Prime Minister of India for ten years, is being held in New Delhi, the LoP said.
    He added that the Chief Minister of Kerala should not have attended such an event and that a request had been made to the airport management to postpone the function and inform the Chief Minister about it the day before.
    Satheesan expressed his "grief and protest" over the "disrespect" shown by the CM.
    Earlier in the day, Vijayan inaugurated the Taj Cochin International Airport, a five-star hotel developed by Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) and operated by the IHCL Taj Group.
    In New Delhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was cremated with full state honours on Saturday in the presence of top dignitaries from India and abroad.
    The last rites were attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with top Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)