Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and opposition leader V D Satheesan have countered Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's adverse remarks against for his alleged disparaging comments against Kerala ahead of Assembly polls in the north Indian state.
In an appeal to voters, the UP Chief Minister said asked the people to vote wisely or else UP may become another Kashmir, Kerala or West Bengal.
Hitting back at Adityanath, Vijayan, who is also a senior CPI(M) leader, through a tweet, said if the north Indian state develops like Kerala, people will enjoy peace and better living conditions. "If UP turns into Kerala as @myogiadityanath fears, it will enjoy the best education, health services, social welfare, living standards and have a harmonious society in which people won't be murdered in the name of religion and caste. That's what the people of UP would want", the Kerala Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister also tweeted the same in Hindi and tagged his UP counterpart.
Many CPM leaders also countered Yogi by citing the high ranking that Kerala received in various aspects.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress also flayed Satheesan's remarks. He said that people of UP should vote to make the state like Kerala. People of Kerala, Kashmir and Bengal are living with utmost self respect and pride, he commented.
Meanwhile, BJP Kerala president K Surendran backed Adityanath by referring to the allegations against Kerala chief minister's office. "UP Chief Minister's principal secretary was not jailed for gold smuggling," he commented by making reference to the gold smuggling case against Vijayan's former secretary M Sivsankar.
Surendran also said that there was no communal riots or political killings or murders by PFI in UP during the last five years. The Covid test-positivity-rate of UP never went beyond 20 percent. UP chief minister or any ministers never went to America for treatment, Surendran said in a social media post by indirectly referring to high Covid TPR in Kerala and Kerala Chief Minister's medical treatment in the US.
In a video message on Twitter, on the eve of Thursday’s polling for the first phase of the assembly elections in UP, Adityanath said he was concerned that rioters, whose activities were curbed by his government, are now feeling uneasy. Terrorists are making threats, he added. "Be alert. If you miss this time, the five-year effort will be washed away. And it will take no time for UP to become Kashmir, Kerala or Bengal," the UP CM had said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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