Kerala Governor's policy address devoid of criticism of Union government: Pinarayi

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that the Governor’s policy address was devoid of any criticism of the Union government’s position that adversely affected Kerala’s interests. This put the United Democratic Front government under a cloud. He was participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s policy address in the Assembly on Thursday (June 4, 2026). Vijayan said there was a silence against the Union government. It was akin to a surrender and would pave the way for huge damage. During the swearing-in ceremony of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government, the Vande Mataram controversy arose. The UDF claimed that though the Governor had insisted that only the Cabinet members should be present then, it was corrected. If this was so, why could the UDF not put up a resistance to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agenda. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had praised the policy address. Many of the proposals in the address were borrowed from the BJP manifesto, he had said on social media. Only the catchword of ‘Puthuyuga Keralam’ had been added to the policy address. There’s no mention of any action for it, Mr. Vijayan said. He alleged that the UDF had lost collective responsibilty right at the start. Ministers themselves had complained that transfers of top officials were done unilaterally. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) had lost in the Assembly elections and it had acknowledged that. However, it had put forward a development paradigm and a politics. It would continue to hold them close together and make a stronger return, Mr. Vijayan said. In his address, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said many dream projects had been announced in the UDF manifesto. It had not checked whether these project were in anyone else’s manifesto. Kerala, he said, had scored better than other States on various social indicators for decades, but many of them were stagnant at present. Unnecessary delay in implementing many schemes was proving detrimental to the State. The living standards of the people should be improved. Kerala should be the destination point for the world when it came to health and education. For the first time in India, a department for the elderly has been created in the State. In three to four years, Kerala will be the most civilised society in India. Satheesan said it was the biggest dream of the government to transform Kerala into a port city. It also wanted to turn Kerala into the largest aviation hub in South Asia. To start industrial enterprises, a land bank should be created. Start-ups should also be started here, Mr. Satheesan said. Tourism projects, including medical tourism, ecotourism and destination tourism, can be implemented with public participation. Urgent action was also needed in the human-wildlife conflict.