Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday condemned the "attempt to malign" the state, before the election in April/May, through "orchestrated hate campaigns", referring to controversy movies like 'The Kerala Story' and its sequel.
"… but the real 'Kerala story' is in our communal harmony and zero-poverty villages," he said at the NDTV Kerala Power Play summit.
Vijayan also hailed the progress of the southern state under his leadership and that of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led ruling coalition.
Referring to the "other" coalition, i.e., the rival Congress-led UDF, he said: "When we came to power the state was in crisis. Education sector was on the backfoot… many schools were on the verge of being shut down. Health was also in need of attention… no doctors, no infrastructure."
"The speciality of Kerala has always been the lakhs of people who work outside the state… and when they used to return to their hometowns, they used to think 'nothing has changed'," he said at the NDTV Kerala Power Play summit this afternoon.
In a strong pitch for the CPM-led LDF – looking for a second consecutive term in the election due in April/May – the Chief Minister highlighted some of his administration's achievements.
These included the construction of 16 highways and a 450km gas pipeline that, he said, was being partly state-funded (land acquisition costs) because the National Highways Authority of India and GAIL (India), formerly the Gas Authority of India Limited, were "unwilling to help us".
"National Highway Authority was unwilling to help us build the highway… they were stating reasons like 'high cost of land' and destroyed projects," he said, "But we put our foot down and decided to give 25 per cent of the expense for the highway from state funds."
"Similarly, GAIL pipeline project was stuck… we intervened to ensure the project began moving and was completed," the Chief Minister said, stressing CPM policies had developed the state.
Infant mortality rates and school dropout figures were also cited to underline the argument the Left-led alliance's policies had also triggered a boost in investment worth around Rs 3.63 lakh crore, particularly from companies that valued a peaceful social and business environment.
On Kerala's relations with the central government, the Chief Minister said, "We try to have better ties at every step (but) we have always been treated badly", and referred to the floods in 2018 that were widely described as the worst in the state in nearly a century.
"In 2018 the state was hit by a major disaster. We wanted help. The Prime Minister came to tour… and we expected help. But we did not receive it. Other states came forward… they informed the centre about our needs. But the centre said we never 'asked for help'," he alleged.
"When Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat other states, including Kerala, helped during times of calamity. But when Kerala needed help it never received any," he claimed.
Telangana and Maharashtra had donated Rs 20 crore and Rs 25 crore on that occasion and others, including neighbours Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, also pitched in. In 2020 a Home Ministry official told NDTV Rs 3,000 crore had been released in the aftermath of the floods.
However, the state government was accused of having not spent half that amount.
On the war in Iran, which has affected around 9,000 Indians in that country, many from Kerala, and on the fate of lakhs of Kerala natives in other Gulf countries, the Chief Minister blamed the US for a "unilateral attack". He lamented the knock-on economic impact in India, including concerns over energy supply from the Middle East and a consequent possible rise in prices.
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