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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 3 (IANS) Opposition leader VD Satheesan on Monday criticized the Kerala government’s claim that the state has eliminated extreme poverty, calling it a “PR stunt built on manipulated data”.
Satheesan’s comments come two days after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced at a special assembly session and later at a grand public event in Thiruvananthapuram that the state is now free from extreme poverty.
He accused the CPI(M) of launching cyber attacks on economists and social scientists who had exposed the government’s manipulated data.
“On the same day the government celebrated the so-called announcement, a hunger-related death was reported in Thiruvananthapuram. The claim that there are no ultra-poor in Kerala is false. The government has not even spent the budgetary allocation for poverty alleviation,” Satheesan told reporters in the capital.
He said the opposition never criticized the decision to provide assistance to 64,000 poor families, but the government had turned the announcement into a publicity exercise.
He commented, “If CPI(M) had been in the opposition, they would also have opposed it.”
Satheesan alleged that the party’s cyber cell had viciously attacked experts like RVG Menon, Dr KP Kannan, MK Das, Dr MA Omman and Aravindakshan for questioning the official poverty data.
“If Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had the power to deport people, he would have thrown them out of Kerala,” he said.
Referring to Local Self Government Minister MB Rajesh’s recent comments mocking the opposition, Satheesan said the government has become intolerant of dissent.
“This is not Stalin’s Russia; this is democratic Kerala. People will continue to criticize and expose false claims,” he said.
The opposition leader further alleged that the state spent funds meant for housing the poor to organize grand functions, which included bringing film stars and MLAs to Thiruvananthapuram for a grand event.
“Was Rs 1.5 crore taken from funds allocated for the poor used for celebrations and massive publicity?” he asked.
The government is deceiving the people and we will reveal the entire truth before the elections.
–IANS
SG/SKP