Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 20 (PTI) Former Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Monday accused Chief Minister V D Satheesan and the ruling UDF of “misleading” the public about the state’s finances, calling on them to apologise for presenting what he described as “incorrect figures.” In a statement, the CPI(M) leader said the Accountant General’s figures for the first quarter of the current financial year showed strong growth in the state’s revenue receipts and contradicted the claims made in the UDF government’s White Paper on the economy.
“The CM and the UDF should apologise for misleading the people by presenting incorrect figures on the state’s financial position,” Balagopal claimed.
He said the figures for April, May and June reflected the continuation of the financial policies and measures introduced by the previous LDF government before the UDF assumed office towards the end of May.
“The AG’s official figures have completely disproved the main arguments raised in the UDF’s White Paper. The strong revenue growth is a recognition of the LDF government’s financial approach,” he said.
Balagopal said the first-quarter performance was a setback for the UDF’s economic policy, which, according to him, argued for curtailing infrastructure projects, social security pensions and other welfare schemes on grounds of poor revenue growth.
“The first-quarter results clearly show that neither the UDF nor anyone else can stop welfare pensions for the poor or the state’s development by raising the false claim of low revenue growth,” he said.
Referring to the 2026-27 Budget presented by the previous LDF government, Balagopal said the latest figures showed that the revenue estimates were achievable.
He said Rs 33,311 crore, including Rs 28,060 crore in tax revenue, had reached the state treasury during the first three months of the financial year.
According to him, structural reforms in the GST department and IT-based measures introduced to curb tax evasion by the previous government had led to the rise in revenue.
Balagopal also claimed that capital expenditure on infrastructure development had doubled from the previous year to Rs 7,179 crore, while investments in sectors such as health and education had exceeded annual targets.
He further said the state’s revenue deficit had come down to Rs 13,209 crore due to higher revenue receipts.
“The AG’s figures clearly show that Kerala’s progress cannot be held back in the name of a financial crisis. Money will not be an obstacle to development and welfare,” he said.
Rejecting what he described as the UDF’s “baseless” claims in its White Paper, Balagopal said Kerala was moving towards “new heights of development and welfare” on the strong financial foundation laid by the previous LDF government. PTI TGB SSK
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