PM Narendra Modi, Pinarayi Vijayan are like brothers, alleges Telangana CM Revanth Reddy

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has alleged that there is no security for ‘God’s Own Property’ in ‘God’s Own Country’ in an apparent reference to the reported involvement of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leaders in the Sabarimala temple gold theft case.

“There is no difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. This is called ‘Modi brothers’ – one brother sitting in Delhi, the other in Thiruvananthapuram,” he alleged while speaking after the release of the manifesto of the United Democratic Front (UDF) for the Kerala Assembly polls here on Thursday (April 2).

Mr. Reddy accused Mr. Vijayan of not opposing the ‘authoritarian’ policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fearing action over his corruption allegations. The Kerala Chief Minister is yet to speak up against Mr. Modi’s move to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50%, he alleged.

He alleged that the 10-year rule of both Mr. Vijayan and former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had shared similarities, including family rule, the highest corruption and poor governance. Mr. Reddy invited Mr. Vijayan to visit Telangana to see how he has implemented the promises made to the electorate ahead of the elections.

Mr. Reddy said that his government had waived crop loans worth ₹21,000 crore, benefiting about 25 lakh farmers. Within 14 months of coming to power, we could offer about 67, 173 government jobs under various categories, he said.

On how he could manage to implement the poll promises, Mr. Reddy said that it was achieved through multiple interventions, including a check on corruption, plugging revenue leakages and measures to ensure funding under various centrally-sponsored schemes.