JOIN USCongress silent on Centre slashing Kerala's borrowing limits
Congress in Kerala is maintaining a silence on the centre's decision to slash the borrowing limits of the Kerala government, which has invited criticisms from the ruling CPM.
The centre on Friday informed that the borrowing limit of Kerala would be slashed from Rs 32,442 crore to Rs 15,390 crore. Even though no reason has been specified by the centre, it has been learnt that borrowings made by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) could be a reason.
Even as the decision will be a major crisis to the cash-strapped state government, the opposition Congress is yet to comment on the matter.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan told DH that the reason for the centre slashing the state's borrowing limits was not yet known and hence Congress was yet to react. "If it is with regard to the borrowing by KIIFB, the Congress had earlier itself warned that KIIFB's borrowings would come under state's liabilities. The Comptroller and Auditor General had also clarified it," he said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday indirectly criticised the Congress's silence on the matter. He said that even as the centre's decision to slash the state's borrowing limits was a matter of serious concern for the state, 'some people' were remaining silent on the issue. The CPM is also projecting it as yet another vindictive measure of the BJP government at the centre towards non-BJP ruling states.
Sources said that the Congress would be taking a position on the matter only after much thought as it is a double-edged sword with the BJP and CPM on either side. Even as the centre's decision has not gone down well with the Congress, the party has also been strongly criticising fiscal mismanagement and extravaganza by the CPM government. Moreover, the Congress had also criticized borrowings by KIIFB and also raised allegations against KIIFB issuing masala bonds.