Kerala CM asks PM Modi to do self-introspection about UP's development rankings

Thrissur (Kerala): A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the LDF government in Kerala over various issues, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday countered all the charges and urged him to do a self-introspection about the development index of the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

He further said while levelling intense allegations about Kerala, the PM should look into the accolades the state had been bestowed upon by the union government led by him.

To substantiate his point, the CM listed a handful of national rankings ranging from the Niti Ayog's sustainable development index to health and poverty indexes in which the state ranked top.

The Left veteran said his government had not easily obtained these recognitions.

"All these recognitions were not received from the wayside," he told reporters here.

Even amidst the "political witch hunt", the Centre has been forced to recognise the state as it stands too high to be ignored, Vijayan added.

"It will be good for the Prime Minister, who is also the Varanasi MP, to ask himself where Uttar Pradesh stands in these rankings," he said.

Vijayan, who was has come under fire from the opposition Congress for not targeting Modi, today referred to the PM several times during the press conference and attacked him over his charges against the state government.

He accused Modi and BJP of adopting a "hypocritical approach" towards the state, the same as they did in their recently released election manifesto.

This is what was seen in the two speeches delivered by PM Modi in Kerala on Monday, he said.

Vijayan rubbished the Prime Minister's charges that Kerala had suffered a setback in a case related to the state's borrowing limit in the Supreme court.

He claimed that the apex court handed over the case to its Constitution bench accepting the arguments of Kerala.

"Where is the setback for the state in it? As the issues being raised by the state reach the Constitution bench, the case will take on a new dimension at the national level," the CM said.

The Prime Minister was attempting to depict the verdict as a setback to the state by pointing to the rejection of the state's plea by the apex court for an interim relief of Rs 10,000 crore in borrowing limit of the previous financial year.

Asked about Modi's hard-hitting comments on the multi-core scam in the party-ruled Karuvannur Cooperative bank here, the Left leader said a total Rs 117 crore deposits had already been returned to the depositors and stringent measures have been taken by the state government against the accused.

He claimed that the PM also is aware of it but he is raking up the issue as it is election time.

Vijayan also said freezing the CPI (M)'s district committee's account (by the central agencies) would not help BJP candidate Suresh Gopi emerge victorious in the elections in this central Kerala district.

Thrissur is one of the constituencies which the saffron party is pinning it's hope the most in Kerala this time.

The CM also asserted that the BJP would have to settle for a third position in all the 20 constituencies during the LS polls.

During the press conference, Vijayan also alleged that the BJP's election manifesto smacked of "communal agenda".

The saffron party does not have the courage to present the progress report of its 10 year rule and face the people during the polls, he charged.

The Marxist veteran said the objective of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is not only to ensure the defeat of the Sangh Parivar forces but also to safeguard India's sovereign, egalitarian, secular and democratic nature.

"This is an election to liberate the country from the hands of communalism and to lead it to the people-centric rule," he added.

The concrete question before the voters is whether the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is vehemently opposing the Sangh Parivar's anti-people policies, or the United Democratic Front (UDF),which is aligned with the policies of the BJP, should win in the state? he said.