CM Vijayan had left India on May 6 for a three-nation tour of Indonesia, Singapore and UAE and was scheduled to return to the country on May 22. However, on Wednesday while chairing the online weekly Cabinet meeting from Dubai, he informed his colleagues that he would reach Kerala on May 20.

It was the Singapore leg of his private trip that he cut short and flew into Dubai in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The visit came as a surprise as it was only after he left from Kochi that the state came to know of it as there was no official intimation regarding it.

The trip became mired in controversy after Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan thanked the media for informing him that CM Vijayan was on a private visit to three countries, and said he had no clue about it.