A day after Kerala Minister K T Jaleel was denied a diplomatic passport to visit Saudi Arabia, the issue took a political colour on Friday.
Jaleel, minister for Local Self Government, and department secretary V K Baby were scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia to meet the Keralites who have lost their jobs and are housed in labour camps.
But, in a late night development on Thursday, their applications for diplomatic passports were declined. Jaleel, who has shelved his plans to go to Saudi, termed the decision by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) unfortunate and said he was not aware of the reasons behind it.
The BJP claimed there were political motives behind the minister’s application for a diplomatic passport.
“Everyone knows that a diplomatic passport won’t be issued considering the situation. A Union minister (Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh) is already in Saudi Arabia and is coordinating efforts to rehabilitate Indians there. The application by the minister is a part of an agenda to blame the Centre,” state BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan said in Kozhikode.
According to official figures, less than 300 workers from the state are languishing in Saudi Arabia's labour camps. The CPM-led state government had directed Jaleel and Baby to take up the visit, and they were scheduled to leave on Friday.
Tharoor tweets
Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor criticised the MEA for what he called “deplorable behaviour” and wondered why a state should not send a minister to ensure the welfare of its citizens. Tharoor said in a tweet that unless External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj intervenes, Jaleel should carry on with an ordinary passport. “Is this co-operative federalism?” Tharoor tweeted.