Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 8 (IANS): Even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lauded the week-long cultural event Keraleeyam 2023 that ended here on Tuesday, the Kerala High Court and the Congress have taken a different stand on it.

Speaking to the media here on Wednesday, Vijayan termed the week-long event as a huge success.

“You (the media) should get the Opposition next time as they boycotted the event this time. Even Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar, who took part in a seminar, lauded the achievements of Kerala, especially in the field of local governance,” Vijayan said.

“We have decided that this will be an annual event now. We have already set the ball rolling for next year’s event,” added Vijayan.

Taking a different stand, Congress' leader of opposition V.D. Satheesan said that a staggering Rs 27 crore has been spent to hold the event, adding that "we wish to know what good it brought".

“Vijayan should explain to the people the need for this extravagance, especially at a time when the state has turned a complete pauper. The fair price shops run by the state government have no food items for the poor and weaker sections of the society. The social welfare pensions are all in arrears, but Vijayan says everything is fine,” said Satheesan.

Earlier on Wednesday, during the hearing of a petition on thepending pension payable to former employees of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Chief Secretary V. Venu told the Kerala High Court that the delay is on account of very bad financial position of the state.

To this, the court saidthat priority for the government should be to deal with the problems facing the people and not celebrations, adding that if the pension to the KSRTC employees are not paid before the end of the month, the Chief Secretary and the MD of KSRTC will have to be called in.