Kerala Governor’s policy address lacks suggestions helpful to State, says Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has said Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar’s policy address to the Legislative Assembly was devoid of suggestions helpful to the future of the State, its public welfare and development.

Addressing a press conference after the Governor address on Friday, Mr. Vijayan, however, said he did not wish to be “harsh” at this stage, considering that the new government was in its initial phase. At this stage, the Opposition LDF chooses to observe the actions of the new government, he added.

Mr. Vijayan, nonetheless, alleged that the policy address was silent on “what should have been said about the Union government” due to political subservience to the BJP. Such approaches indicate “servility to communal politics” and would result in Kerala losing what is eligible to it, he said.

It lacked any mention of either the Central policies that threaten fiscal federalism or the latter’s financial policies. The policy speech also remains silent on the Union government’s decision to introduce the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) and the UDF government’s stand on the issue, he said.

He said the 16th Finance Commission had increased the State’s share on account of the persistent efforts made by the two previous LDF governments. On account of this, the State is in a much better position financially. When the previous LDF government stepped down, the treasury had a cash balance of ₹5,429 crore, which helps the new government in its initial activities.