Blame game in Kerala Assembly over state's economic woes, Opposition walks out

The Kerala Assembly witnessed heated arguments between the ruling Left and the Congress-led UDF on Tuesday as both sides blamed each other over the state's financial problems. The Opposition finally walked out of the House in protest, saying the state government lacks any plan to improve the situation.

The Opposition moved an adjournment notice in the morning to suspend the scheduled business of the House and discuss the financial crisis in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the adjournment notice and said he was happy to see that the Opposition agreed that the Centre’s neglect towards Kerala was one of the reasons for the financial issues in the state. However, he added that the UDF MPs have never raised the issue in Parliament.

The Opposition alleged that the state government's failure in tax administration and collection was one of the main reasons for the state's severe financial crisis.

Congress MLA Roji M John said that the primary reason for the crisis was the "complete mismanagement" by the state government.

"When GST was introduced, Kerala should have been the biggest beneficiary, being a consumer state. Over the last six years, our GST collection has fallen by 10 to 12 per cent primarily because of delays in implementing the tax administration structure," he said.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) VD Satheesan blamed Finance Minister KN Balagopal and said the latter had "failed miserably". Satheesan asked the minister to focus on improving in the coming days.

Balagopal denied any mismanagement on the government's part, as claimed by the UDF, and blamed the Centre's policies and neglect towards Kerala for its economic woes.

"While discussing the state's financial crisis, if the Opposition thinks blaming the State is the only way, then it's not just that. There is a central government that's working with motives that are against the state and its people in an undemocratic manner. The Opposition and opposition leader's argument were limited to the discussions that take place during a state level election. It's unfortunate," said the finance minister.

He added that despite the financial crisis, the state has made developments in education, health, infrastructure, basic facilities, etc.

At the end of the discussion, VD Satheesan said the Opposition raised the issue in the House hoping the government would come up with a plan to deal with the crisis.

"However, in the absence of any plan from the end of the government, we are staging a walkout," he said.

Afterwards, Speaker AN Shamseer ruled that the adjournment motion was rejected.