Chandy to give 'ceremonial welcome' PM Modi in Kerala amid soaring tensions

Putting aside his disappointment over his cancelled invite, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday said that he will give a 'ceremonial welcome' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kerala today, displaying his commitment to democratic values.

"We will welcome the PM to Kerala with a ceremonial welcome that will display our commitment to democratic values. I will receive the Prime Minister at Kochi airport today. KP Mohanan will accompany the PM as minister-in-waiting during his 2-day tour. I will see him off at Thiruvananthapuram airport tomorrow with ministers and will use the opportunity to discuss the needs of Kerala," Chandy said in a series of tweets.

However, he admitted that he had been extremely said when he was told by the organisers to not attend the event where the Prime Minister was scheduled to be present and said that denying a Chief Minister permission was a 'protocol violation'.

"I considered the opportunity to participate in the statue unveiling function of Shri R. Shankar as an honour. I felt extremely sad when I was told not to attend the function by the organisers who invited me to the event. The statue unveiling is not a BJP function, it is the Ist public event of PM in Kerala, denying CM from attending is protocol violation,"

He added that it had not been a 'personal' insult, but an insult to the entire state that he had been denied the right to participate in an event the Prime Minister was attending.

"The best homage to R. Shankar would've been a statue unveiling event where everybody is allowed to participate," Chandy tweeted.

The Congress has been livid over the exclusion of Chandy from the function to be attended by Prime Minister Modi to unveil a statue of former chief minister R Sankar.

Echoing similar sentiments, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi attacked the Prime Minister earlier today, saying that he has insulted the people of Kerala by denying permission to Chandy from attending the function.

"The Prime Minister of this country has insulted the people of Kerala. He has stopped our Chief Minister from going to a function. The CM of Kerala represents the people of Kerala. He is the choice of their people and the Prime Minister has insulted them which is not acceptable," Rahul told reporters here.