CM to meet Modi Thursday, hopes PM will accept demands

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, along with seven of his cabinet colleagues, will officially meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time on Thursday with a list of demands to benefit the state.

"This would be my first official meeting as the last time I called on him was soon after he assumed office and it was a courtesy call. Tomorrow (Thursday) we are presenting before him long-pending issues for his consideration," Chandy told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday after the weekly cabinet meeting.

"One of our request that would be put before him is to include rubber-based industries in his Make in India campaign," added Chandy.

Among the other demands that Chandy would place before Modi includes a proposed airline, the much-delayed Palakkad coach factory, the already-cleared Idukki and Kuttanad development packages and also issues pertaining to the Kasturirangan committee report on conserving the Western Ghats.

Asked if he will be in trouble the way Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha member Sashi Tharoor ended up after accepting Modi's invitation to join the Clean India campaign, Chandy in his characteristic style smiled and said: "But that was different, is it not?"

He then ended the press conference, before any more questions could be put to him.