'People won't be murdered over religion': Pinarayi Vijayan hits back after Yogi Adityanath's Kerala remark

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan on Thursday launched a scathing attack against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his alleged disparaging comments against Kerala ahead of Assembly polls in the north Indian state.

In a video message to the electorate ahead of the UP Assembly polls, Adityanath warned them that the north Indian state could soon become a "Kashmir, Bengal or Kerala" if they commit any mistakes in the election.

Hitting back at Adityanath, Vijayan, who is also a senior CPI(M) leader, said if the north Indian state develops like Kerala, people will enjoy peace and better living conditions.

"That's what the people of UP would want", the Kerala chief minister said in a tweet. His tweet read:

The chief minister also tweeted the same in Hindi and tagged his UP counterpart.

Slamming Adityanath for his remarks, Satheesan also urged the people of Uttar Pradesh to choose plurality, harmony, inclusive development to medieval bigotry.

"Dear #UP, vote to be like Kerala. Choose plurality, harmony, inclusive development to medieval bigotry. Keralites, Bengalis and Kashmiris are also proud Indians. #kerala #democracy #religiousharmony #UPElections2022," Satheesan, a Congress leader, tweeted.

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 chief minister had said.

Yogi 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."

"This vote will be your guarantee to a life without fear, Adityanath said in his appeal to voters.

The chief minister said he is satisfied that UP is now free from professional criminals and the terror of the mafia.

The Hindus who migrated from their home have returned, he said, in a possible reference of the alleged exodus of traders after threats from criminals in Shamli's Kairana town some years back.

Those who used to issue threats and extort money from traders are either in jail or left the state, he said.

He claimed police now work without any political interference, and women can move about freely.

The chief minister said he never worked in a "biased manner" during his term, there was no scam and no one could raise a charge of corruption of "a single paisa against him.

Highlighting the work done by his government in the past five years, Adityanath said it succeeded in providing electricity in all villages.

He claimed such development work had not been done over the past 70 years.

We built toilets and this was not a move to get your votes. It was a matter of our mothers' pride. Elections will come and go but now women will not have to work on the 'chulha' (firewood stove)," he said.

He also mentioned the Ayushman Bharat scheme for medical treatment, the construction of expressways and industrial corridors and the free ration given to 15 crore people during the Covid pandemic.

He said medical colleges and oxygen plants are being established in all districts.

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