A chartered flight, 3 foreign trips and a Range Rover put UDF govt under scrutiny

“What wonderful friends!” Former minister and CPI(M) state secretariat member MB Rajesh’s sarcastic remark has brought together three controversies that have put Keralam’s UDF government under pressure: Ministers’ sponsored foreign trips, Local Self-Government Minister KM Shaji’s use of a friend’s Range Rover, and Chief Minister VD Satheesan’s privately sponsored chartered flight.

Rajesh’s reference was to the growing questions over the private benefits being extended to ministers. His remarks came as the Opposition stepped up its attack over a series of arrangements that the government and the ministers involved say did not cost the state exchequer anything.

A private visit to the US

The first issue concerns Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala’s recent trip to the United States. Chennithala travelled to the US with his family, with the Congress maintaining that the trip was sponsored by a friend. According to the Opposition, the reported cost of the air tickets was around Rs 8 lakh one way, and has become part of the political debate.

The Congress position is that the visit was private and that the expenses were not borne by the government. The minister has also explained the purpose of the visit and the circumstances in which the travel was sponsored.

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The Opposition, however, is questioning whether the absence of a direct charge on the state exchequer is sufficient to settle the matter. The focus is on who sponsored the trip, the nature of the sponsorship, and whether the arrangement raises questions of propriety for a minister holding public office.

Millennial way of life

Sports Minister OJ Janeesh has also come under scrutiny over his foreign travel. His overseas trips have been questioned in the context of the wider controversy over ministers travelling on sponsorship.

Janeesh has defended his travel, saying ministers are entitled to private time and that the trips did not affect his official responsibilities. He has also maintained that the government did not bear the expenses.

“I am only 37, and I am not going to do it the Boomer way. Everyone should take a few days off and spend time with their family. My wife was travelling with me, so what’s the problem?” the minister said, shrugging off questions about the trip.

A foreign trip and a Range Rover

The Opposition has sought to place the various trips in the same political frame, arguing that the government should provide greater clarity on sponsored travel involving ministers.

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KM Shaji’s Bulgaria trip has now added another element to the controversy. Shaji’s foreign travel has come under scrutiny along with his use of a friend’s Range Rover for official purposes.

The Range Rover controversy became an issue after the minister was seen using the luxury vehicle instead of the government vehicle allotted to him. The vehicle was reportedly owned by a friend and is valued at several crores.

Petty issues?

Shaji has maintained that the government vehicle available to him was not suitable for long-distance travel. He also said he did not claim any reimbursement from the government for using the private vehicle.

The government has said that the minister had sought permission to use the vehicle and that, with the approval of the chief minister, the General Administration Department permitted the government registration number and state board to be displayed on the vehicle.

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Shaji also put out a sarcastic social media post asking friends with vehicles to lend those to him so that they, too, could become famous. Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph, who is also the KPCC president, also joined the bandwagon saying these were all petty issues.

CM’s chartered flight

These explanations have, however, not ended the political controversy. The Opposition has questioned the propriety of a minister using a privately owned luxury vehicle for official purposes, even if the use was formally permitted.

The issue has now acquired greater significance because it comes alongside questions over sponsored foreign travel.

And then came the controversy over the chief minister’s chartered flight.

VD Satheesan travelled by a privately sponsored chartered aircraft while visiting the areas affected by the mudslide in Malappuram. The Congress has maintained that the aircraft was provided free of cost and that former Karnataka minister KJ George sponsored the flight. Congress spokesman BRM Shafeer dismissed any wrongdoing, stating that the Karnataka Congress leader has not taken a single paisa.

Government sources, too, have said there was no expense to the state exchequer.

Who, why and whether…

The Opposition, however, has demanded transparency over the flight.

Questions have been raised over who arranged the aircraft, who paid for it, why the aircraft was offered to the chief minister and whether the required government procedures were followed before accepting the private sponsorship.

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The reported cost of the chartered flight, said to be around Rs 25 lakh, has added to the political interest in the issue.

The government’s argument in each of these controversies is broadly similar—that there was no financial burden on the state.

But the Opposition is trying to shift the focus from expenditure to propriety.

The why question

That is where Rajesh’s intervention becomes politically significant. His question is not simply who paid for the trips or the aircraft. He is asking why private individuals are willing to provide benefits involving large sums of money to ministers.

“What wonderful friends,” Rajesh said sarcastically, before asking why these friends would provide ministers with personal benefits worth crores.

The CPI(M) is now seeking to turn the issue into a wider attack on the UDF government’s standards of transparency. The Congress had, while in the Opposition, repeatedly questioned ministers of the previous LDF government over foreign travel and other forms of private hospitality. Those earlier positions are now being cited by the CPI(M) to question the UDF.

A lot to explain

For the Congress, the challenge is to explain each case separately and establish that there was no conflict of interest or violation of government procedures.

The ministers and the government have provided explanations, and the question of whether the relevant rules were followed remains central to the Opposition’s demand for greater transparency.

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The Opposition is unlikely to let the issue rest by taking the Congress’ explanation at face value.

The questions now extend across the individual controversies with the cost and sponsorship of ministers’ foreign trips, the use of a privately owned luxury vehicle for official purposes, and the sponsorship of a chartered aircraft for the chief minister.

A pattern or just coincidence?

For the UDF government, the immediate political problem is that these controversies have arrived together. Each may have its own explanation, but the Opposition is presenting them as a pattern that requires a broader explanation from the government.

Chief Minister VD Satheesan took the sarcasm route when questions were raised at his Cabinet briefing over the privately sponsored chartered flight.

Satheesan said a Malayali friend had arranged the aircraft for his travel and that he would not disclose the person’s identity. He also said that he himself had advised his Cabinet colleagues that they could undertake foreign trips if the travel involved no expense to the state exchequer.

From Oommen Chandy to Pinarayi

Asked whether ministers accepting such benefits from private individuals raised questions of propriety, Satheesan hit back with a counter-question, asking whether the journalists were not ashamed of raising such questions.

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“Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has also travelled several times in helicopters and other aircraft arranged by private individuals. Has he disclosed the names of any of them? Why drag all of them into this? A Malayali arranged the flight for me. What is wrong with that? If the need arises, I will travel again. I see nothing wrong with it. These are not people who will come seeking favours in return for arranging a flight for the chief minister. All chief ministers in India, including Oommen Chandy, have travelled in a similar manner,” said Satheesan.

The question now is not merely whether the government paid for these facilities. It is whether the government is prepared to disclose who provided them, under what circumstances, and whether the same standards of transparency that the Congress demanded when it was in Opposition are being followed now that it is in power.