The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala will boycott the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s fourth-anniversary celebrations.

Addressing media persons here, Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly V D Satheesan said on Saturday that the entire Opposition in Kerala will boycott the fourth anniversary celebrations of the LDF government. He said the government has no moral right to celebrate the fourth anniversary when the state is facing a severe financial crisis.

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The senior Congress leader asked what is there to celebrate when development and growth have stagnated beyond redemption.

Stating that there is no governance in Kerala, Satheesan said the LDF government’s ineptitude and splurge had pushed the state into a Rs 6 lakh crore debt trap.

“This government has put Kerala in a debt trap, and the state is going through a financial crisis that it has never been through before. The basic classes have been completely ignored. The health, agriculture, and education sectors are facing a major crisis. The people in the hilly areas are suffering from wildlife attacks. In the last 4 months, 18 people have been killed in elephant attacks. Even the traditional things that are done to prevent wildlife attacks are not being done. The coastal region is also in drought. Kerala is sinking into a state where welfare schemes are being stopped and development activities are not being carried out,” said Satheesan.

While the government is totally ignoring weaker sections, including ASHA and Anganwadi workers, during the fourth anniversary celebrations, it is spending Rs 15 crore on hoardings featuring only the Chief Minister’s picture.

Alleging that the state has been gripped by the drug mafia due to political patronage given from the ruling party, he said there have been no attempts to dismantle the drug supply chain.

The second LDF government’s fourth anniversary will be celebrated from April 21 to May 23, with both district and state-level programmes. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will kick off the celebrations at Kasargod on Monday.