Satheesan Says He Will Continue Using Privately Sponsored Flights

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister V D Satheesan said he has travelled on flights sponsored by private individuals and will continue to do so. He was responding to questions from journalists about the sponsor of the chartered flight used for his trip to Malappuram.

“Why should the details of the sponsor be disclosed? The trip was not made in secret. Not a single rupee of government money was used,” Satheesan said. He added that he needed to visit Malappuram as otherwise the media would report that the Chief Minister had not visited the district despite the death of six people.

Satheesan said the chartered flight was used to reach Malappuram quickly after attending the Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi observance. He did not directly respond to the questions about the private individual who sponsored the chartered flight.

When journalists repeated the question about the sponsor, Satheesan responded, “I am the one speaking, please don't make me say it. You just keep listening.” When the question was raised again, he did not provide further details and instead reiterated that the trip had not cost the government anything.

He said a Malayali had arranged the aircraft. “I have travelled using chartered flight, and I will go again,” Satheesan reiterated.

Satheesan also said that chief ministers across India travel by aircraft at the expense of private individuals. He questioned what would be wrong if ministers travelled in vehicles provided by their friends or travelled abroad without using government expenditure.

“No one will come tomorrow and demand a favour just because they provided an aircraft,” he said.