Revanth rejects Vijayan’s charges on Telangana development, foresees change in Kerala

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy outrightly refuted Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s charges on his ruling and questioned the latter’s claims on governance, poverty eradication and transparency in his State. Further, Mr. Reddy, speaking to a news agency during his campaign in Kerala, alleged that Mr. Vijayan was being ‘protected’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sabarimala gold theft case. Claiming that Mr. Modi was acting as Mr. Vijayan’s godfather in New Delhi, Mr. Reddy questioned why no action had been taken against the Kerala Chief Minister.

In his reply to the letter by Mr. Vijayan on Tuesday (April 7), Mr. Reddy has objected to Mr. Vijayan’s reliance on the NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2023-24 to assess Telangana’s performance claiming that the report had reflected the ‘tail-end’ of nearly a decade of ‘BRS-BJP misrule’, which ended in December 2023.

Stating that his government has completed 28 months in office and should be judged on its own record, Mr. Revanth Reddy claimed Telangana’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) stood at ₹16.12 lakh crore in 2024-25, registering a growth rate of 10.7%, higher than the national average of 9.9%.

“Our (Telangana) per capita income had reached ₹3.87 lakh, making it the highest among major States, ahead of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala, as per the RBI’s Handbook of Statistics 2024-25,” he said.

Responding to Mr. Vijayan’s assertion that Kerala was set to become the first State to eradicate extreme poverty by late 2025, Mr. Revanth Reddy questioned whether the claim had been independently verified. Referring to the mention in Mr. Vijayan’s letter that more than 64,000 families were still receiving micro plans, he asked whether extreme poverty had in fact been eliminated. The Telangana Chief Minister also raised questions on corruption, including Sabarimala case in Kerala, in his letter.

Outlining his government’s development agenda in Telangana, Mr. Revanth Reddy said they were working towards becoming a $1-trillion economy within a decade, anchored by projects such as the proposed Future City near Hyderabad and the National Industrial Corridor at Zahirabad. He expressed confidence that the people of Kerala would take a considered decision on their future, as they had in Telangana.