Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget Session of the Parliament in New Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the “reckless policies” of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) governments have led to a “fiscal crisis” in Kerala, as she dismissed allegations that the Centre has cut funds for the State.
The Finance Minister also mentioned that the Left government of E.M.S. Namboodiripad in Kerala was dismissed by the Congress.
“The truth is that Kerala’s fiscal crisis is a result of both the LDF and the UDF governments’ reckless policies and not the fault of the Union government. Did it stop us from doing work in Kerala? No,” she said.
Amid protests from the Opposition members and heated exchanges, Ms. Sitharaman referred to the Communist Party of India (CPI) government of Namboodiripad being dismissed by the Congress regime at the Centre.
“When the Namboodiripad government was thrown out by the Congress…. Do remember the day when democracy was killed by an elected government being thrown out. Where were you at that time?,” she asked.
“You are a Communist party member, you are sitting in alignment with the Congress. The Congress is the one which threw it out, you do not even want to remember that. With respect, I will bring Namboodiripad, the patron of Communism in India,” she said.
Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar pointed out that it was the first-ever elected Communist government in the world.
Relevance
As some Opposition MPs asked what was the relevance of mentioning the point, Ms. Sitharaman said, “For me, even the 1959 throwing out of the Communist government is not old. (It) shows how Indian democracy was misused by the Congress.” “If a Communist party member asks me what is the relevance of it…. It hurts me to no end. I am surprised. You should never forget,” she said.
Dismissing the allegations that the Centre is not sanctioning sufficient funds for the State, Ms. Sitharaman said, “Kerala received ₹1.57 lakh crore between 2014 and 2024, which is an increase of 239% over the UPA period. How much did it receive between 2004 and 2014? ₹46,300 crore.” “Kerala is being differentiated, discriminated … please … we follow the recommendations of the Finance Commission and that is what is going to you. It is not lesser than what you received earlier,” she added.
The Minister said there was a 509% surge in the grant-in-aid and while Kerala received ₹25,630 crore from 2004 to 2014, it received ₹1.56 lakh crore between 2014 and 2024.
‘Sense of responsibility’
“I am saying this with a sense of responsibility that Kerala has never been supported better than this government, the way Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has supported it,” she said.
“It is hurting to hear Kerala repeatedly saying that you are discriminating against us,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman also quoted a Supreme Court judgment in a case relating to borrowing limits, which said Kerala “has not unutilised the fiscal space and that the State has over-utilised its fiscal space”.
She also quoted a CAG audit report and said it observed that in 2022-23, 97.88% of Kerala’s debt receipts were utilised for repaying the outstanding debt, which indicated poor debt management by the State government.
Published – March 28, 2025 12:22 am IST
