LDF convener EP Jayarajan has defended Kerala's debt saying it shows the state government's readiness to improve the quality of living.
"What is wrong with borrowing? We will borrow to develop basic infrastructure," Jayarajan said on Saturday. He was addressing a public event as part of the People's Resistance March in Thrissur.
Jayarajan's appearance at the event led by CPM state secretary MV Govindan had remained uncertain in the wake of corruption allegations against the former raised within the party.
'Kerala would have starved'
Jayarajan has claimed Kerala was able to feed its citizens during the COVID pandemic only because it borrowed.
"If we had not spent this 65,000 crore that we borrowed half of Kerala would not have survived the pandemic, and hunger would have prevailed," Jayarajan said.
The senior CPM leader has claimed that having debt was not a marker of poor governance. "Who does not borrow money? Even the central government borrows. We borrow not to default on the repayment but to develop our state. When our income improves, we will repay."
'Kerala can't be auctioned off'
In late January the United Democratic Front, the main opposition in Kerala, led by Congress, published a white paper accusing the LDF government of plunging the state into a financial crisis.
The opposition claimed that Kerala's huge borrowings have left the state in a dangerous debt trap.
However, Jayarajan mocked the allegations by saying the state will not be auctioned off.
"No one has ever put a state government up for auction due to debt. If that was the case, the India government will be put on auction first," Jayarajan said.
