Finance Minister KN Balagopal used his 2026-27 budget speech to issue a strong social warning against attempts to undermine the “unity of Keralites”.
He said that some powerful revanchist forces are trying to overshadow the welfare, development and livelihood needs of the state by trying to inject religious schismatic and caste identity politics into the public narrative.
Mr. Balagopal emphasized that unity was Kerala’s “greatest treasure”. He said that unity is the biggest guarantor of growth, prosperity, religious harmony and peace for Kerala. “We can’t think of a better factor to attract foreign tourists, entrepreneurs and capital to our state,” he said.
In the same vein, Mr. Balagopal warned the society against “highly venomous communal snakes who are spewing religious nationalism and lurking to destroy the unity of Kerala”. He said that the treasure of unity and community is Kerala’s endless capital for prosperity.
Mr. Balagopal said Kerala had slowed down the “poisonous elements” by erecting a shield wall of “love and unity”. He said the divisive elements have not backed down or conceded defeat. “Schismatic revanchist forces are pursuing new strategies to collectively divide, polarize and subjugate Keralaites to bend them to their will,” he said.
Mr. Balagopal said that the Left stands for no caste, no religion and no narrow-mindedness, but firmly stands for humanity. “Our slogan, unlike many, is not religion, religion, religion itself, but the fire of hunger in the stomachs of the masses,” he said.
The minister said that the divisive forces have hired a new group of so-called election experts to stigmatize the secular forces that are rallying against communalism.
“Such stigmatizations will not deter us. We (communists) have been with the people for hundreds of years, we have been fighting against imperialism, fighting for land reforms and carrying them out. Countless labor struggles have strengthened our strength. We have enacted people’s planning, eradicated extreme poverty, greatly expanded the social development of the state, high quality of physical life and ensured the high quality of religious life of the state. We are strangers to us, together we are the left, sir,” he said.
Mr. Balagopal returned to Kerala’s agrarian agitations by announcing the VS Achuthanandan Centre, which was to showcase the life, struggles and times of the former Chief Minister, freedom fighter, revolutionary and leader of the iconic Punnapra-Vayalar peasant agitation. He also announced memorials and research centers for social reformers and renaissance leaders Kavarikulam Kandan and Ayya Vaikunda Swamy.
Mr. Balagopal demonstrated the injustice of the Centre’s strangulation of state finances. “Only a united Kerala could face the Centre’s transgressions against fiscal federalism, jurisdiction and legislative authority of the states and the failure of the Union government to help the state in times of calamity,” he said.
Published – 29 Jan 2026 18:22 IST
