Thiruvananthapuram: There were two narratives that the LDF, by constant repetition, fashioned into political truths. One is the Oommen Chandy government's incompetence in disbursing welfare pensions; it is said that when Chandy left office in 2016, his government had not paid welfare pensions for 18 months. The other is that the Pinarayi government has nearly doubled the number of welfare beneficiaries, from 34 lakh in Chandy's time to 62 lakh now.
Both these carefully cultivated campaigns lost a bit of sheen in the Assembly on Thursday. It was Finance Minister K N Balagopal who first referred to the UDF's 18-month delay. He was responding to the adjournment motion moved by Congress MLA P C Vishnunath on the delay made by the LDF government in the payment of social welfare pensions.
The finance minister was essentially telling the UDF benches not to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. "When the first Pinarayi ministry assumed power, it was burdened with the pension arrears of 18 months," he said. Vishnunath pounced on this statement right at the start of his speech.
"The minister has once again repeated the patent lie of the 18-month pension arrears," he said. Vishnunath then held up the White Paper brought out by Balagopal's predecessor Thomas Isaac in 2016. "In this document, placed in this very Assembly, it states that the liabilities were below Rs 1,000 crore, which means there was a delay of just three months," Vishnunath said.
"Doesn't a former finance minister's documen.
