THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Protest over Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remarks of his state turning into Kashmir, Kerala or West Bengal reverberated in Parliament on Friday. Opposition MPs from Congress and other parties walked out from the Lok Sabha in protest against the remarks.
In the Rajya Sabha, CPM’s John Brittas moved a suspension of business notice over Yogi’s remarks. Since permission was not granted for the discussion, the Left MPs staged a walkout, said MP Elamaram Kareem.
In a video message ahead of the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls on Thursday, Yogi warned voters to vote cautiously if they did not want the state to turn into Kashmir, Kerala or Bengal. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who taunted Yogi for his remarks on Thursday, continued to hit back at his UP counterpart.
On Friday, he came out with a series of tweets under the hashtag #KeralaStandsOut. “The state stands out since it has the lowest percentage of people living in poverty according to the #NITIAayog’s Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index. In Kerala, only 0.71% of the population is multidimensionally poor against the national average of 25.01%.”
If Uttar Pradesh turns into Kerala, it would be a major gain for the people of the north Indian state, said CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. If people of UP want longer life expectancy, they should defeat BJP, he added.
Kodiyeri said the political debates over the remarks should reflect in the ongoing UP elections. Kerala has been ahead of UP in living standard indices — be it health, sustainable development or governance. The BJP leadership in Kerala should come forward and correct Yogi for his statement, he added.
