The Left-ruled Kerala government has denied permission to Congress scion Rahul Gandhi to attend the online inauguration of a school building in his constituency in Wayanad. Reportedly, Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to take part virtually in the inauguration ceremony of Wayanad school building on Wednesday (October 15) at 10:15 am.
Congress cries foul over ‘event cancellation’
The ceremony, hosted by the school Parents Teachers Association of the State government-run Munderi School in Wayanad, had to be called off for not seeking prior permission from the State Education Minister and the district administration. As per reports, the school building was built at a cost of ₹1.2 crores, with 70% Central allocated funds.
While speaking on the development, Congress Committee President (Wayanad) IC Balakrishnan dubbed the move by the Left-run district administration as ‘politically motivated’. He added that the local Congress unit had no option but to cancel the event.
District collector issues stop memo, asks Rahul Gandhi to reschedule programme
However, CPI (M) leader and Kalpetta MLA CK Saseendran claimed that the school building was a joint initiative of the Central and State government, with the latter holding 40% of the stake. He emphasised that approval of the State government was necessary before inviting Congress scion for the virtual inauguration.
Denying charges of cancellation, he added, “This programme has not been called off but has been asked to be rescheduled. My name was mentioned in the programme by the organisers. “The district collector has issued a stop memo for the programme since it has no prior approval as per the direction of the state government. ”