Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 : Two days after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan left for a 19-day private tour of three countries, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday said that the CM appeared to have left the hectic election scene in the country due to the fear of the BJP, and also sought an answer from the CPI(M) national leadership.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family are on a tour of three countries -- Indonesia, Singapore and the UAE.

'We heard the statements during the campaigning for the April 26th Lok Sabha poll, that 'if the Left is not there, India will not be there, so vote for Left'. With this being their hashtag, we wish to know even while Vijayan is the sole chief minister of the Left in India, why has he not gone for election campaign to other states, especially West Bengal and Tripura? It appears Vijayan is afraid of the BJP and hence ducked and ran away,' said Satheesan.

'Even more intriguing is the fact that Vijayan has not handed charge to any other leader. Moreover, the weekly cabinet meeting every Wednesday has been cancelled. Doesn't Vijayan trust any of his senior cabinet colleagues? He has gone on this long private trip when the state is passing through its worst time due to multiple reasons,' said Satheesan, and asked the CPI(M) national leadership to come clean on his trip.

State Congress president K. Sudhakaran said CM Vijayan has cheated his party by not campaigning for the candidates in other states.

CM Vijayan left from Kochi with his wife Kamala and their grandson on Monday. His daughter Veena Vijayan and her husband state Tourism Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas joined Vijayan on Monday in UAE.

/IANS