Kerala is in very bad shape financially, has highest debt: BJP leader

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader KJ Alphons on Saturday said that the state of Kerala is in a very bad financial situation and that the state has the 'highest debt in the country'.

Speaking to ANI, KJ Alphons said, "Kerala is in very bad shape financially. It is financially a wreckage. There is no money to pay a pension. 70,000 pensioners have died since 2019 without getting the additional Dearness Allowance (DA). Kerala has the highest debt in the country. How can a state survive like this?"

"Kerala Government is continuously borrowing loans and adding a huge burden on future generations of the state," he added.

Earlier on Friday Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal said that the state is not getting its revenue share from the Centre.

"Kerala is facing financial sanctions from the Centre. Kerala is paying around 70 per cent of the revenue to the Centre and less than 30 per cent of the revenue is coming from the centre. There is a sharp disparity and it is discrimination," he said.

Balagopal further alleged that the United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs are not supporting the state government on this issue against the Centre.

"We had a bitter experience on the part of UDF MPs in Kerala. UDF has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha. When Chief Minister met with UDF MPs it was decided that a memorandum will be given to the Union Finance minister and they all agreed. Memorandum was prepared and then UDF and other Congress MPs were reluctant to sign the memorandum and did not go. They went against the interest of the state, this is a very serious issue," he said.

Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday accused Kerala's finance minister KN Balagopal of failure to manage the state's finances.

"Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal has completely failed in the management of finance source of Kerala. Actually speaking Kerala is now in the debt trap. The government has no idea how to get over it. The wasteful expenditure has not been corrected. Corruption is one of the major issues in the state. The revenue generation is not at all in the expected line," Chennithala told reporters.

The Congress leader alleged that total failure in financial management has created havoc in the financial sector of the state.

"Still, he's blaming the Congress MPs. I wonder how he can blame the Congress MPs on this issue. We are not ruling the state and as and when the time comes we are raising this issue in the Parliament. Our MPs are very vocal in the Parliament stating more financial resources to the state. It's our general stand, to ask for the finance commission's report, Kerala needs more and more support from the centre," Chennithala said.