Kerala Budget 2020-21: Pinarayi Vijayan Govt Depicts Mahatma Gandhi’s Assassination On Cover of Budget Document, FM Thomas Isaac Defends It

Thrivanthapuram, February 7: Kerala Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac, who presented the fifth budget of the CPI(M)-led LDF government for 2020-21 fiscal on Friday, had a painting, describing moments when Mahatma Gandhi was killed, on the cover of his budgetary speech. During the budget presentation, Thomas Isaac also said that the Citizenship Amendment Act was posing a threat to the basic credentials of the Constitution.

Asked why the cover of his budgetary speech had the paining on Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, Isaac said: "Definitely, it is a political statement. It is a painting by a Malayalam artist of Mahatma Gandhi's murder scene. We are sending out a message that we will not forget who murdered Gandhi." The state Finance Minister also alleged that attempts were made to re-write history and divide society on communal lines.

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"This is important at the times when history is being re-written. There is an attempt to erase some popular memories and use the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to divide the population on communal lines. Kerala will stand united," Isaac said. In his budget speech, Isaac said that the rival fronts in the state joined hands to protest when the country had faced existential threat which had become a model for other states.

During the budget presentation, he made a scathing attack on the Centre, alleging that the BJP-led NDA government was “strangulating” the southern state by denying funds. "The Centre has been strangulating Kerala by denying funds for the state and has been moving on a self-destructive path by corporate-friendly policies and privatisation. The GST implementation has not been beneficial for the state," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2020 01:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).