A political clash unfolded between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. Reddy, known for his passionate speeches, criticized the Vijayan government during a campaign in Kerala, alleging corruption and governance failures. In response, Vijayan refuted the claims in a detailed Facebook post, accusing Reddy of misrepresentation and attempting to belittle Kerala.
Vijayan defended Kerala’s performance on various social indicators, citing the state’s top ranking in the NITI Aayog Sustainable Development Index for 2023–24 with 79 points, compared to Telangana’s sixth position. He highlighted Kerala’s low poverty rate of 0.55%, contrasting it with Telangana’s 5.88%, and emphasized Kerala’s progress towards eradicating extreme poverty by the end of 2025.
The Chief Minister also pointed out Kerala’s achievements in literacy and healthcare, noting the state’s high literacy rate of 95.3% as opposed to Telangana’s 76.9%. He highlighted Kerala’s Infant Mortality Rate of 5 per 1,000 births, lower than that of the United States, and mentioned that Kerala’s public health system contributes to its citizens living longer than the national average by 5 to 7 years.
In a final retort to Reddy’s criticism, Vijayan suggested that the Telangana leader should focus on addressing poverty and literacy in his own state instead of investing heavily in political campaigns in Kerala. He criticized what he termed as “political hypocrisy,” pointing out that a Telangana delegation had previously visited Kerala to study its digital land records system, ‘Ente Bhoomi,’ while now disparaging the state.
Vijayan also dismissed allegations of collusion with the Centre, accusing the Congress of aligning with the BJP and not opposing policies that financially strain Kerala. He concluded by inviting Reddy to study Kerala’s welfare model firsthand, asserting that Kerala has little to learn from a government where salaries and pensions are reportedly delayed.
