Amid the crisis in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his team spent about Rs 43.14 lakh during their visit to London. According to the document obtained through RTI, the money was spent on travel, hotel accommodation and food in London.
The details of the expenditure was collected by Kochi native S Dhanarajan from the London High Commission through RTI.
The Chief Minister and his team visited London from October 2nd to 12th. The team spent Rs 18.54 lakhs on hotel accommodation, Rs 22.38 lakhs on traveling in London, and Rs 2.21 lakhs on airport lounge fees. The expenses were made by the Indian High Commission in London and later the amount was settled by the state government.
They went to London to bring in foreign investments to Kerala and sign agreements beneficial to the state.
The foreign tour of ministers had drawn flak from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) opposition.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran had slammed Mr. Vijayan and his cabinet colleagues for “junketing off to luxurious foreign destinations” when the State’s financial situation was shaky.