Kerala Assembly elections: Pinarayi Vijayan slams Telangana CM Revanth Reddy for ‘disparaging’ State

Pinarayi Vijayan defends Kerala's achievements against Telangana CM Revanth Reddy's criticisms, highlighting corruption and poverty statistics.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has slammed his Telangana counterpart, Revanth Reddy, for “disparaging the people of Kerala” by broadcasting “misinformed and slanderous” comments about the State.”

At a campaign speech in Thiruvananthapuram recently, Mr. Reddy had borrowed a popular line from a Malayalam blockbuster Narasimham starring Mohanlal — “Nee po mone Dinesha” – to tell Mr Vijayan, somewhat dismissively, that the latter’s “expiry date has passed and time is over”. Mr Reddy also stated that Kerala was a State in decline, plagued by corruption, administrative inefficiency and nepotism. 

In a post on Facebook and X on Friday, Mr Vijayan riposted that the NITI Aayog, India’s apex policy think tank, ranked Kerala as the least corrupt State in the country and Telangana, the sixth most graft-ridden State. Mr Vijayan stated that NITI Aayog ranked Kerala first in the National Sustainable Development Index (2023-24) with 79 points and Telangana sixth. 

Mr Vijayan noted that NITI Aayog’s national multidimensional poverty index ranked Kerala as the least poverty-affected State in the country (0.55 per cent). In contrast, NITI Ayog has stated that an estimated 5.88 per cent of the Telangana population suffered crushing poverty. 

Telangana CM Shri Revanth Reddy's recent disparaging remarks about Kerala are entirely baseless. It is ironic that someone who runs bulldozers over the homes of the poor in his own state is trying to preach to Kerala about social progress. He has simply become a mouthpiece for…

“Kerala has eradicated extreme poverty. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has promised total eradication of multidimensional poverty by 2030. Does the Telengana government have any comparable plans to uplift the needy and suffering masses?” he asked.