Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 (IANS): At a time when Kerala is battling with Covid-19 surge, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday left for the US for his treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

Vijayan would return on January 29.

He, along with his wife Kamala and personal assistant, arrived at the Cochin airport on Friday night and spent the night at the special room in the airport before boarding the flight in the wee hours to an airport in the Middle East, from where they will board a direct flight to the US.

Vijayan is being trolled on social media ever since his travel plans to the US for treatment surfaced. Even the Congress and the BJP took a dig at the "double standards" of the Communist's general apathy towards the US in all issues, other than for medical treatments.

The chief minister's travel came a day after the comparison surfaced between the Vijayan government's two terms at the ongoing Thiruvananthapuram district CPI-M meeting which was inaugurated by him. A few of the delegates also criticised his second tenure.