Satheesan defends using private chartered aircraft

Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Wednesday defended his use of a private individual’s chartered aircraft to fly to Kozhikode to meet the kin of flood victims, asserting that the State has not incurred any costs for the same.

The Chief Minister had flown from Thiruvananthapuram to Karipur airport on September 21 in a chartered aircraft to take stock of the situation in Nilambur, where six persons were killed in a flash flood as part of extreme rains.

On Wednesday, at a press briefing in the state capital, CM Satheesan said an acquaintance had offered to sponsor the chartered flight journey and declined to reveal the individual’s name.

“There’s no point in dragging their names into this. Everyone knows who owns planes in the state. If one of them offers the chief minister a ride to urgently travel somewhere in the state, there’s nothing wrong with it. Chief Ministers in the past have done the same. Tomorrow, they (aircraft owners) are not going to turn up for a favour from the government. And this is not a government that will do such favours,” said Satheesan.

He said it was important that he travel to Malappuram immediately to visit the flash flood-affected area and meet the kin of the victims. “Six people were killed. If the CM doesn’t go, you will ask why I didn’t go there,” he said.

When reporters asked why the CM did not utilise government funds to undertake official trips, he replied, “The funds in the CMDRF are not for the chief minister to use an aircraft and fly. It’s for the victims of disasters,” he said.

The Keralam CM said that the agreement involving the helicopter rented by the state police had expired on September 19 and that the government would not renew it on those terms. “Whether the government or the police used it or not, we had to pay a monthly fee of ₹ 80 lakhs. It was a big amount,” he said.

The Chief Minister also defended his cabinet colleague KM Shaji’s use of a friend’s luxury car as the official vehicle. “When Shaji’s official vehicle broke down, the protocol department has allowed him to use a private vehicle,” he said.

Vishnu Varma is Assistant Editor and reports from Kerala for the Hindustan Times. He has 10 years of experience writing for print and digital platforms and has worked at The New York Times, NDTV and The Indian Express in the past. He specialises in longform reportage at the intersections of politics, crime, social commentary and environment. Read More