Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan skipped the interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday.

Vijayan has decided to depute State Chief Secretary Tom Jose and the reason is, Kerala does not have the permission to speak, as only seven states are allowed to speak during the video meet with the Prime Minister.

Kerala had the opportunity in the last interaction and on Monday all the states which are not speaking have been asked to give in writing what they wish to say.’

The Chief Ministers of Bihar, Odisha, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Puducherry are likely to speak today. From the northeast, the Chief Ministers of Meghalaya and Mizoram will speak.

Vijayan said the focus of today’s meet is on the northeast and it is not mandatory for all states to attend.