Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 22 (IANS): In a first of its kind, the Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday met at a bar attached to a private hotel in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s home district Kannur.

For ages, the practice of holding weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday has been taking place in the state secretariat here. Occasionally, it is held outside the state capital, but it’s always held in state-run guest houses.

The Congress has slammed Vijayan for holding the Cabinet meeting at a private hotel, when spacious government guest houses are there in Kannur where the meeting could have been held without spending any money.

Vijayan is on a state-wide trip that began on Saturday, which will pass through all the 140 Assembly constituencies before ending in the state capital on December 24.

Each day the Chief Minister will meet people in four Assembly constituencies, while the Cabinet will also meet every Wednesday.

Vijayan has branded his trip as the beginning of building a new Kerala, while the opposition has termed it as extravagance and PR exercise ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls.