Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran slammed the State government’s week-long Keraleeyam fete as profligate spending when the inflation-hit families were struggling to make both ends meet, and the treasury remained void.
He said the festival, estimated at ₹27 crore, was a challenge to the people of Kerala. It was thinly veiled political propaganda using taxpayers’ money and backed by the government’s official machinery.
He said the event would bring the capital to a standstill for seven days. The State treasury was bone dry. It had no money to pay government contractors. Public works in the State had ground to a halt due to the mounting backlog of payments. The financial crisis has hit the disbursal of Dearness Allowance to State employees, noon-meal schemes in schools, and issuance of welfare pensions. The government owed KSRTC employees several months of salary. Retirees from the Corporation rarely got pensions.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan erroneously blamed the Central government for the financial crisis of his own making. He termed the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government corrupt and ridden by nepotism and maladministration.
Mr. Surendran said corruption and inefficiency were the hallmarks of the LDF administration. Flawed tax administration and graft-impelled refusal of the government to collect taxes had cost the public exchequer ₹70,000 crores last fiscal. The CAG said the lost taxes amounted to 24% of the State’s GDP.
