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‘If UP turns into Kerala…’: Pinarayi Vijayan tweets comeback to Yogi Adityanath
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said UP voters must defeat BJP to live a better life like Kerala people.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s warning to the electorate on the eve of the first phase of polling that the “state could become another Kashmir, Bengal or Kerala if mistakes were made” during voting triggered a sharp backlash from Kerala politicians.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, state opposition leader V D Satheesan and many others slammed Yogi Adityanath “insulting other states”.
“If UP turns into Kerala as the CM fears, it will enjoy best education, health services, social welfare, living standard and have a harmonious society in which people won’t be murdered in the name of religion and caste. That’s what the people of UP want,” tweeted chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
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CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury asked Yogi Adityanath to check Niti Aayog’s latest report to get a clear picture: “Kerala is the best ruled and UP is the worst.”
The CPM put out a string of tweets, comparing the ranking of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala across various indices
To be sure, the latest Niti Aayog sustainable development goals (SDG) index placed Kerala in the top spot for the fourth consecutive year with 75 points while UP was one of the five worst-performing states with 60 points. The states were evaluated on the basis of their performance in various spheres such as health, education, gender, economic growth, climate change and environment.
Kerala leader of opposition VD Satheesan taunted Yogi Adityanath.
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“Yogi says voting him out will make UP a Kerala. This is the best thing he can ask as a penance of five years,” the CPM said in a tweet. “Dear UP, vote to be like Kerala. Choose plurality, harmony, inclusive development to medieval bigotry. Keralites, Bengalis and Kashmiris are also proud Indians,” tweeted Satheesan.
“UP will turn into Kashmir, Bengal and Kerala if BJP doesn’t come to power. UP should be so lucky_ Kashmir’s beauty, Bengal’s culture and Kerala’s education would do wonder for the place,” tweeted senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor
This is not the first time Yogi Adityanath has tried to put down Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan government.
In 2017 as he inaugurated the BJP’s state-wide ‘Janraksha Yatra’ in north Kerala, Yogi Adityanath compared the state with African country Somalia and said its medical facilities were poor and inadequate. His critics pointed that the same year more than scores of children reportedly died in a government-run children’s hospital in Gorakhpur due to official negligence.
