India, Jan. 4 -- The second edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha 2020 (LKS), a brainchild of the Left Front government, which met in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram in the first three days of the New Year, turned out to be more of a political event than an NRI meet.

The LKS is a jamboree of Keralites living across the globe held once in two years. According to the LKS website, "it is envisaged as a platform for the cultural, socio-political and economic integration of these myriad Keralas with the home Kerala". In plain terms, the Sabha is supposed to discuss threadbare the innumerable problems faced by non-resident Keralites.

Though Malayalis have migrated to almost all parts of the globe, the focus of the meet was mainly on the Gulf ...