Congress-led Opposition rejects Kerala government's joint protest call against Centre

Congress-led Opposition rejects Kerala government’s joint protest call against Centre

The Congress-led opposition in Kerala, the United Democratic Front (UDF), has declined a request from the state government to join the protest against the Centre scheduled for February in New Delhi.

The Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan, wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, informing him that the opposition will not take part in the protest on February 8.

The CPI(M) Chief Minister had called for a meeting with the opposition leader Satheeshan and Deputy Opposition Leader PK Kunhalikutty of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), seeking support in the protest against the alleged negligence of the central government towards the state.

In his letter to the Chief Minister, Satheesan pointed out that the opposition believes negligence from the Centre is only one of the many causes behind the financial crisis in the state.

“In the meeting with the CM, we made it clear that we cannot agree with the narrative that the centre’s neglect is the cause of all the financial crises Kerala is facing. There are problems including mismanagement in tax administration on the part of the state government,” he said.

The UDF meeting unanimously decided against a joint protest with the government, citing the cause of the financial crisis as the “mismanagement, corruption, and lavishness of the state government”.

“The meeting ended with the idea that the Chief Minister’s proposal to protest in Delhi will be discussed within the UDF. But the government announced the date of the protest in Delhi unilaterally. I would like to remind you that this is not political etiquette’, he said.

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