Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sharply criticised Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, accusing him of making “misinformed and disparaging” remarks about Kerala during his recent visit to the state.
In a strongly worded statement, Vijayan said Reddy had been “seriously misled” into commenting on Kerala’s development and welfare model, while conveniently ignoring pressing issues in his own state. He alleged that the Telangana Chief Minister was attempting to undermine Kerala’s achievements by echoing narratives aimed at discrediting its governance model.
“While Kerala moves forward through a path of sustainable and inclusive development, he appears to have taken up the role of defending those trying to derail it,” Vijayan said.
"Concealing the fact that bulldozers are being driven over the homes of the poor in his own state, he has been seriously misled into attempting to lecture Kerala on social progress and public welfare" added Vijayan.
'Seriously misled'
The Chief Minister also took aim at Reddy’s allegations of corruption and governance failure in Kerala, urging him to examine official data before making such claims. Citing national indices, Vijayan pointed out that Kerala continues to rank among the best-performing states on key human development indicators.
He referred to the NITI Aayog Sustainable Development Goals Index (2023–24), where Kerala secured the top position with a score of 79, while Telangana ranked significantly lower. He also highlighted Kerala’s low poverty rate, which he said stood at just 0.55 percent, among the lowest in the country, and noted that the state is on track to eliminate extreme poverty entirely.
“Instead of spending resources on political messaging in Kerala, shouldn’t he focus on addressing poverty and improving literacy in Telangana?” Vijayan asked.
Political hypocrisy
The Kerala Chief Minister further underlined the state’s high literacy rate and strong public health outcomes, including a significantly low infant mortality rate. Vijayan also pointed to what he described as a contradiction in Reddy’s stance. He noted that a high-level delegation of revenue and survey officials from Telangana had visited Kerala in September 2025 to study its digital land records system, ‘Ente Bhoomi’ (ILIMS), widely regarded as a model initiative.
“It is political hypocrisy to praise Kerala’s systems administratively while publicly ridiculing them,” he said.
The sharp exchange comes against the backdrop of Revanth Reddy's campaign in Kerala, where his remarks drew criticism for allegedly crossing the bounds of political decency expected from a sitting Chief Minister.
War of words
In his campaign speeches in Kerala, Reddy mocked Vijayan by adapting a popular dialogue from the Malayalam blockbuster Narasimham. Tweaking Mohanlal’s famous line, 'Nee po mone Dinesha' (Go away, kid) in the film, to 'Nee po mone Vijaya,' the Telangana CM claimed the Kerala government’s 'expiry date' had passed.
These comments were widely seen as personal and derisive.
Vijayan also rejected Reddy’s allegation of a tacit understanding between the Kerala government and the Centre, countering that Kerala has consistently opposed what it sees as discriminatory fiscal policies of the Union government. He accused the Congress of failing to strongly resist such measures, even suggesting that it functioned as a “B-team” of the BJP on critical issues affecting states.
Vijayan said Kerala has little to learn from a government where salaries and pensions are reportedly delayed, and instead invited Reddy to study Kerala’s welfare-oriented governance model first-hand.
The war of words signals a deepening political confrontation in poll-bound Kerala, as national and regional parties sharpen their messaging ahead of crucial electoral contests.
