Kerala BJP chief accuses CM Vijayan of 'taking credit' for Centre's smart road project

Thiruvananthapuram | BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state PWD Minister P A Mohammed Riyas of attempting to "take credit" for the 12 smart roads in the state capital as part of the Smart City project.

Chandrasekhar, in a Facebook post, claimed that the project was implemented by the Union Ministry of Urban Development which had selected Thiruvananthapuram as one of the 100 smart cities in the country.

He alleged that due to the state government's "inefficiency", it and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation were unable to complete even the first phase of the project within the time set by the Centre.

"However, with the central government's timely intervention, the project was completed by overcoming the state's inefficiency. Now, the Chief Minister and the son-in-law of the communist dynasty have come to take credit for it," he alleged.

His allegation comes a day ahead of the state government's planned inauguration at Thiruvananthapuram of more than 50 PWD roads in 14 districts of Kerala and 12 smart roads in the state capital.

Chandrasekhar alleged that the state government was not implementing any new projects and was "sticking stickers of its name" to those being implemented by the Centre.

"They are doing this to hide their own inefficiency," he alleged.

He also criticised the state government's ongoing anniversary celebrations, alleging that the nine years of LDF rule in Kerala has denied development opportunities to the people when the rest of the country was moving forward.

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He further alleged that Kerala was the state with the highest inflation and unemployment among youth in the country.

The BJP leader claimed that any development or new projects in Kerala have been brought by the central government and Narendra Modi.

"Only the BJP can make a developed Kerala a reality," he contended in his post.