The State government’s Keraleeyam festival has ended up as an event meant to splurge government funds, failing to live up to the claims made by the Chief Minister and Ministers, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K.Surendran has said.
Addressing the media here on Tuesday, he said that though the government had claimed that the money spent on the festival will be an investment for the future, no intervention to bring in investments seems to have happened at the festival.
“The Chief Minister had claimed that the festival will market Kerala to the world, and that many esteemed personalities from various fields will be a part of this. But, we have seen only film stars at the festival. No investor has expressed any interest in the State. This festival was meant to hoodwink the people. Crores of money have been splurged for the festival. Contractors and quarry owners have also been threatened to sponsor money to run the festival,” he said.
Mr.Surendran also criticised the way tribal groups were reportedly portrayed at an allied programme of the Keraleeyam festival. He said that some tribal groups were exhibited before the public, thus insulting an entire community. The Keraleeyam organisers should apologise to the community, he said.
