UDF not to attend swearing-in, will witness it virtually: MM Hassan

Thiruvananthapuram, May 18: Representatives of the Congress-led UDF will not attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala considering the COVID-19 situation in the state, UDF convener MM Hassan said on Tuesday.

Opposing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's decision to hold the ceremony in the presence of 500 invited guests at the Central Stadium here on Thursday adhering to COVID protocol, Hassan, however, made it clear that the UDF MPs and MLAs were not boycotting the ceremony.

All of them will see the function virtually, he told reporters here. The senior Congress leader said the ministers in the new cabinet should have taken oath at a simple ceremony, particularly in view of people being confined home due to the lockdown announced to curb the spread of coronavirus.

He also pointed out that the state capital was under triple lockdown.