Battle in Kerala
With all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala at stake in the second phase of polling tomorrow, the electoral drama unfolds with its usual intensity, underscoring the unique political landscape of the state.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday lashed out at the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre accusing it of attempt to scuttle the state government’s welfare schemes for the poor by imposing heavy financial burden on the state.
Speaking at the Kerala NGO Union’s diamond jubilee celebrations in Kochi, Vijayan said the Central government was asking to stop the welfare schemes of the state in order to overcome the financial crisis. But the state government doesn’t agree to it.
“We do not have a treasury that is overflowing with money. It’s a fact that the state is experiencing a financial crisis. However, the direction put forward by the central government to overcome the crisis is to wind up all the social welfare schemes. That will not happen,” he said.
Advertisement
Stating that the Central government is squeezing the state financially as much as it can, the chief minister said it (the Central government) does not provide financial allocation to Kerala in proportion to its population.
Alleging that the BJP runs the government for the corporate houses, he said the state government was attempting to implement alternative programmes for the poor.
CM Vijayan said Centre’s decision to consider the guarantee provided to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and Kerala Social Security Pension Ltd (KSSPL) as state debt is a denial of Rs 12,500 crore as a loan which is a rightful share of the state.
“The Centre’s stand is that the fund spent by KIIFB would be considered as the loan borrowed by the state government. However, this is not applicable for the Centre’s institutions such as the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited under NHAI and the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development,” he said.
Advertisement
