Amid Rs 6 lakh crore debt: BJP alleges Kerala’s s welfare schemes are political drama

Highlighting Kerala’s staggering Rs 6 lakh crore debt, BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar has questioned how the state government could fulfill new welfare promises while under severe financial strain.

He alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan “suddenly remembered the poor” after 9.5 years in power, just months before the Assembly elections.
Chandrasekhar sharply criticized the Chief Minister for announcing welfare schemes, calling them “election-time theatrics” and “recycled promises” lifted directly from the CPI(M)’s 2021 election manifesto. He said the Chief Minister had “woken up from a long slumber” in the final months of the government’s tenure and added that while genuine efforts to support citizens are welcome, last-minute declarations could not be regarded as sincere governance.

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The BJP leader pointed out that Pinarayi Vijayan had promised that “everything would be alright,” but never clarified that action would come only in the final months of the administration. In contrast, he noted, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has implemented welfare schemes such as PM-KISAN and Ayushman Bharat consistently from the first year of his government.

Chandrasekhar alleged that Kerala’s economy had become a “scam-driven model,” with funds intended for critical sectors being diverted. He claimed money earmarked for healthcare was being redirected to pensions, funds for Scheduled Caste welfare were being siphoned through corrupt intermediaries, and allocations for housing, drinking water, and schools were being diverted to pay
interest.

He warned that with the state’s debt at ₹6 lakh crore, most of the new announcements were unlikely to be implemented, and the Chief Minister would again shift the blame to the Centre. Chandrasekhar urged the Kerala government to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme fully, providing free health insurance to all citizens over 70 years of age, if it was truly committed to helping the elderly and the poor.

Concluding, he asserted that political drama, PR exercises, and corruption do not bring development and only serve to insult the intelligence of the people.