Loka Kerala Sabha American Regional Conference in New York is mired in controversy with the organisers reportedly deciding to collect amounts ranging from USD 25,000 to USD 100,000 from US-based Keralites by offering them a chance to sit or stand close to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during the regional meeting of the organisation to be held from June 9 to 11.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday came out against the collection of money from the expatriates to stand close to Chief Minister Vijayan.

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Chennithala said the Loka Kerala Sabha is an extravaganza and corruption. It is not beneficial for Malayalis and ordinary expatriates, he said.

“The opposition parties boycotted Loka Kerala Sabha in the past two years after realising that it was an unnecessary expense and an event to woo an elite class. What is the point behind saying that one needed to pay money to see the Chief Minister during his visit to the USA? How can you charge money to share the dais with the Chief Minister,” asked  Chennithala.

BJP state president K Surendran asked the Chief Minister to withdraw  from  the decision to collect money from NRIs for the Loka Kerala Sabha event. “Asking to pay 82 lakh rupees to share the stage with the Chief Minister is an insult to  Kerala,” he said. Surendran alleged that this action is tantamount to defrauding the hard-earned savings of poor expatriates.

Defending the decision to collect money from the participants in the Loka Kerala Sabha, CPI-M leader Ak Balan asked: “What’s wrong with accepting sponsorship? None of these people making allegations have  bought sponsorship before.”

“Loka Kerala Sabha is a gathering of Malayalis from different countries. Through this the  image of the Chief Minister and the government will go up. The allegations will be dismissed by the expatriates,” he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi  Vijayan and his team will leave for the United States of America (USA) next week to attend the Lok Kerala Sabha American Regional Conference in New York.

Speaker AN Shamseer,  Finance Minister KN Balagopal, NoRKA (Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) Vice Chairman P Sreeramakrishnan,MA Yousafali, Ravi Pillai, JK Menon, OV Mustafa and a team of officials led by Chief Secretary VP Joy will accompany Vijayan. The conference will be held on June 9, 10 and 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, New York.