India

Tough time for Kerala Min Muraleedharan as he faces protocol violation charges

PNS

Kerala may soon lose its lone representative in the union council of Ministers as the demand to sack V Muraleedharan, Minister of state for external affairs, has reached a crescendo from dissenters in the BJP.

This is a follow up to the favouritism shown by Muraleedharan, who has been elected to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, towards Smitha Menon, a Public Relations Executive from Kochi. Menon attended the Indian Ocean Rim Association of Council of Ministers held at Abu Dhabi in November 2019 and shared the dais, which according to a social activist in Kerala was a violation of diplomatic protocol.

Salim Madavoor, a RTI and civil rights activist had received a reply from Indian embassy in UAE stating that Menon was not a member of the official delegate which proves that she was not entitled or eligible to sit in the dais.