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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has embarked on a tour of the Gulf amid criticism from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition.
Mr Vijayan’s first stop is Bahrain. He left for the Gulf nation late Wednesday (October 15, 2025) night on a Gulf Air Flight from Thiruvananthapuram.
On October 17, Mr Vijayan will attend a public function organised by the Bahrain Kerala Samajam.
Mr Vijayan will showcase the Kerala government’s schemes for the welfare of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) at the meeting. He will also seek the help of expatriate Malayalis to spur Kerala’s development.
Members of the Lok Kerala Sabha, a State-sponsored initiative to bring the Malayali diaspora worldwide under a single expansive tent, will attend the meeting. Officials of Norka Roots, a nodal agency for the welfare of the Malayali expatriate community, and the Malayalam Mission will participate in the meeting.
Mr Vijayan will return to Kerala on October 19.
In the next phase of his Gulf tour, Mr Vijayan will interact with Keralites and Gulf business leaders and officials in Qatar, the UAE and Oman.
Centre removes Saudi from itinerary
After much speculation, the Central government had given Mr Vijayan sanction for foreign travel on Tuesday. However, the Central government removed Saudi Arabia from Mr Vijayan’s itinerary.
Mr Vijayan appeared sceptical last week about whether he would get the Centre’s sanction for the official visits.
He flagged the perceived “uncertainty” at a Cabinet press conference on Monday. When asked whether the Centre would “thwart” his foreign travel plans as in the past, Mr Vijayan said that he hoped not and signalled optimism.
Election-year political stunt: Congress
Congress Meanwhile, the Congress has sought to portray Mr Vijayan’s Gulf visit as an election-year political stunt. Congress leader Cherian Philip alleged that Mr Vijayan was touring the Gulf to raise election funds at the behest of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].
Mr Philip said the government had dipped into the “cash-strapped State treasury” to fund the Chief Minister’s “political trip”.
He said NORKA was “a white elephant”. Mr Vijayan’s promises to expatriate Malayalis, including the welfare of their families and government support for local investment, were yet to take off.
Mr Philip said Mr Vijayan’s “expensive foreign jaunts” had not brought any tangible investment or international expertise to Kerala. He stated that the NRIs who invested in Kerala had run into knotty red tape, hostile local bodies and extortionist trade union leaders backed by the CPI(M). “Investors are fleeing Kerala”, he said in a statement.
Earlier, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph had said Mr Vijayan used the Gulf tour as a pretext to run away from the issues bedevilling his government.
Mr Vijayan commenced his tour at a time when the UDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had ratcheted up their street campaign, accusing the government of “giving free rein to private profiteers and pilferers” in Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB)-controlled temples, primarily Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.
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