Kerala budget full of unfulfilled promises, economy in crisis: BJP state chief

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday alleged that the LDF governments budget was filled with promises that remained unfulfilled even after a decade in power. Chandrasekhar said the state government was projecting it as an achievement that Keralas debt had not doubled during its tenure.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Saturday alleged that the LDF government's budget was filled with promises that remained unfulfilled even after a decade in power. Addressing reporters here, Chandrasekhar said the last budget presented by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government did not reflect the promises made to the people when it came to power. ''The last budget of the UPA government at the Centre was similar to the LDF government's budget in the state. It contains only promises, with no real achievements over the past 10 years. People should ask why nothing was done during this period,'' he said. He alleged that the budget was intended to mislead the public. Drawing a comparison with the Centre, Chandrasekhar said that when Narendra Modi announced the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme before coming to power, the UPA government hurriedly approved it with an allocation of just Rs 50 crore in the budget, while the NDA government later allocated Rs 25,000 crore for the scheme. He claimed that for every Rs 100 Kerala receives as revenue, Rs 92 goes towards debt servicing and pensions, leaving only eight per cent for development. ''This is the situation in the state,'' he said, alleging that Kerala's economy had been turned into a ''Ponzi scheme''. ''Funds meant for one project are diverted and used for another,'' he alleged. He further claimed that the economy ''was being destroyed'' as the budget did not adequately address employment, inflation, health, or education. Chandrasekhar said the state government was projecting it as an achievement that Kerala's debt had not doubled during its tenure. ''This government has burdened 3.5 crore people with a debt of Rs 5.5 lakh crore. Who will repay this, and how? This debt will affect future generations,'' he said. He accused the state government of misleading people by blaming the Centre for alleged delays in the allocation of funds. Claiming that the LDF government had spent Rs 22 lakh crore over the past 10 years, Chandrasekhar said, ''almost all sectors were in crisis'', pointing to ''economic mismanagement''. He said Kerala was the only state in the country that had not implemented the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, under which at least three lakh people could have received houses. ''Kerala is also the only state that has not implemented the PM Ayushman Bharat scheme,'' he said. He claimed that around 32 lakh households in Kerala still did not have water connections despite the LDF being in power for 10 years, and that Rs 6,000 crore in dues had not been paid to contractors who laid pipelines. ''Kerala's water connection coverage stands at just 55.54 per cent under the Jal Jeevan Mission, placing it at the bottom,'' he said. Chandrasekhar alleged that rubber farmers were being neglected as the promised support price was not being provided. The mission is envisioned to provide safe, adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households in rural India. He also criticised the state government for announcing a life insurance scheme for school students when, he claimed, 75 per cent of schools ''were unsafe'', citing statements made earlier by Education Minister V Sivankutty in the Assembly. He said that while the state government claimed it had no funds for projects such as the Sabarimala rail project, NH-66 development, and AIIMS land acquisition, it found money to issue nativity cards. He alleged that Kerala had violated the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act passed by Parliament. ''The state's debt has reached 34 per cent of its GSDP. Loans are now being taken to repay interest. This situation did not exist 10 years ago,'' he said. He claimed that the CPI(M)'s ''anti-investment and anti-entrepreneur ideology had harmed Kerala's economy'' and said the government should be removed from power. ''Only the BJP can fix the weak economy, as demonstrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the past 11 years at the Centre,'' he said. Chandrasekhar questioned why the state government was seeking viability gap funding from the Centre if it had sufficient financial capacity. He said there was a fundamental difference between the Centre's debt and the state's debt. ''The Centre borrows to invest, and India is now the fastest-growing economy. Here, debts are taken without development,'' he said, adding that borrowing was not wrong, but utilisation was key. He also alleged that the Congress had failed ''to act as an effective Opposition'' over the past 10 years and claimed there was an understanding between the CPI(M) and the Congress to jointly blame the Centre.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)