The Congress-led UDF on Thursday, June 16, boycotted the third meeting of the Loka Kerala Sabha held in Thiruvananthapuram citing the recent alleged police atrocities against its workers for protesting against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in view of the allegations made against him by Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling through diplomatic bags case.
Another reason cited by the UDF for avoiding the Loka Kerala Sabha was lack of response from the government to the queries and suggestions of the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan regarding the benefits, if any, to the expatriates from the last two meetings of the sabha held in 2018 and 2020.
The reasons for boycotting the event was communicated by senior Congress leader and UDF convenor MM Hassan while speaking to media on Thursday evening after a meeting of UDF members. He said that in the UDF meeting, among other things, it was decided to boycott the third edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha, a platform of non-resident Keralites from 47 countries and 21 states.
The Congress-led opposition had boycotted the last meeting of the Loka Kerala Sabha held in January 2020. The Loka Kerala Sabha held on Thursday evening was inaugurated by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan who in his inaugural address appreciated the expatriates contribution in building the global reputation of the country.
He also appreciated their contribution to the development of the country and the state and the role played by them in facilitating the return of Indian students from war-torn Ukraine after Russia invaded that country. Speaker MB Rajesh also spoke at the event and in his speech listed out the various steps taken to implement the decisions arrived at in the last two Loka Kerala Sabha meetings.
He said that there were standing committees in place in seven sectors, a women's cell in Norka Roots, a pravasi legal aid cell, Norka job portal as well as agreements with Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands with regard to employment opportunities there for Indian nationals, all of which were outcomes of the meetings of the Loka Kerala Sabha. He claimed that expatriates have greatly benefited from the previous meetings of the Loka Kerala Sabha.