'Time to account for Vijayan govt's wrong decisions, policies': Shashi Tharoor on Congress-UDF's vision ahead of assembly polls

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday laid out what he calls a “Kerala 2.0” vision ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the southern state. Tharoor said the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is not only building its campaign around anti-incumbency against the Left Democratic Front’s 10-year rule, but is also trying to offer a broader and forward-looking agenda.

Asked if anti-incumbency would be the central plank against the Pinarayi Vijayan government, he told PTI, “No, I think our plank is much more positive. It is about Kerala 2.0.” He said that one of the Congress-UDF's key campaign slogan is that "it's time for an accounting of everything that the government has done wrong.”

He also gave out what all Congress has achieved so far in the states where it has government. “For example, we delivered specific five guarantees from free travel for women in buses to improved pension payments, which is something that the Left front government has consistently failed to do,” Tharoor told the agency.

Furthermore, the Thiruvananthapuram MP raised concerns about how the state earns its revenue, saying Kerala cannot continue depending on a narrow set of resources. “We in Kerala cannot remain reliant on remittances, lotteries and liquor, which is essentially what is keeping the state going,” he said.

Tharoor criticised the state’s finances, pointing to rising debt and spending pressures. “Do you know that we actually spent more money on debt servicing, interests on debts, and on salaries and pensions than we do on all of our development projects put together. It is a disgrace.”

He warned that simply increasing taxes is not a solution. “This sort of stuff simply cannot do now, you need responsible management, but you can't do it by taxing your own people. You are already the most highly taxed people in India. Highest property tax, highest stamp duty, highest various state levies. What we need now is revenue to be generated by new businesses, new ventures,” Tharoor asserted.

“I have lots of ideas, the Congress- UDF have a lot of ideas for new things we can do that have not been tried so far,” he added.

Alongside this, Tharoor accused the LDF government of financial mismanagement, claiming the state struggles to meet salary payments and often has to borrow money by September to cover expenses.

On the political contest, he downplayed the BJP’s role, saying the fight in Kerala remains largely between the LDF and the UDF. He said the BJP currently has no seats in the Assembly, and even winning one to three seats would be seen by the party as a big achievement.

Voting for the 149-seat Kerala Assembly is scheduled for April 9. In the 2021 elections, the LDF returned to power with 99 seats, increasing its tally by eight and becoming the first alliance since 1977 to win consecutive terms in the state. The UDF secured 41 seats, six fewer than before, though its vote share went up. The BJP did not win any seats.