'Financial doom due to govt's reckless spending'; Union finance minister trains guns at Kerala govt

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while campaigning for NDA candidate Rajeev Chandrashekar said that the debt-ridden state of Kerala was no fault of the people, but blamed the inept handling of the ruling elite. She was inaugurating the election convention of NDA candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

Nirmala Sitharaman:

The much-hyped Kerala model was a failure. Kerala is below the national average in areas such as health, education, rural development, urban development, road construction and unemployment. Kerala has an incompetent financial administration that cannot even spend the amount allocated for salaries in the budget.

Yet the blame is that the central government is not giving money. Kerala's problem is not about borrowing money but reckless spending and indulging in extravaganza. Pinarayi government borrowed 42285 crores in the name of KIIFB and Social Security Fund Company without even the knowledge of the assembly. Both companies have no revenue of their own.

Kerala received just Rs 46303 crores as central assistance and 29629 crores as project allocation when UPA was ruling, but during the Modi government, we gave 1.55 lakh crores and 1.58 lakh crores respectively. According to the RBI report, the private investment in the country last year was 2.66 lakh crore. From this only Rs 2399 crores reached Kerala. Investors are afraid to come to Kerala. The ruling party is known for political killings. Now, we are hearing about the atrocities of SFI, including the murder of Siddharthan. An ideal candidate should be one who speaks for the people.

Nirmala Sitharaman released the election song. District President VV Rajesh presided over the event. Candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar delivered the keynote address.