Thiruvananthapuram: BJP leader V Muraleedharan accused the Chief Minister of making statements for political gain in connection with the Kuwait fire incident.

He stated that if the Chief Minister had any gratitude towards expatriates, he would not have attended a dinner with big mouths before placing the bodies in the coffins.

Muraleedharan added that the Chief Minister should have attended the funerals of the deceased in Thiruvananthapuram.

“The incident in Kuwait is the biggest disaster that Malayalis in the expatriate world have faced. The Prime Minister personally led the rescue operations, and during the Foreign Affairs Minister’s trip, he intervened to ensure compensation measures were taken,” said Muraleedharan.

Regarding the issue of denying travel permission to Health Minister Veena George, he questioned what she could have done in Kuwait as everything was handled by the Ministry of External Affairs. He also questioned if anyone had asked the minister to wait at Nedumbassery before obtaining political clearance. "Is waiting at Nedumbassery airport done with the ease of travelling in a KSRTC bus?" he asked. Muraleedharan noted that blaming Narendra Modi for this miscommunication was pointless.

In the wake of the fire tragedy, a special cabinet meeting held in the state capital decided to depute George to Kuwait for coordination with the numerous Kerala organisations that were helping the local authorities transport the bodies back home. George then moved her papers and reached the airport to take the departing flight to Kuwait.

Her wait, however, turned futile when information came that she would not get the mandatory clearance required from the Centre to travel abroad. She also expressed her anguish at the Centre's refusal. Union Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh rushed to Kuwait and coordinated the work with the Indian Embassy officials there.

With IANS inputs