BJP leader V Muraleedharan urged the government to withdraw the decisions that led to the misuse of taxpayers’ money. File | Photo credit: PTI
Senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan on Thursday (December 25, 2025) questioned the legality of the Kerala Cabinet’s decision to introduce a permanent nativity scene with embedded photographs, saying the move was unnecessary and “politically motivated”.
Reacting to the cabinet’s in-principle approval on Wednesday (Dec 24), the former Union minister said the power to determine citizenship rests with the central government and asked why the state needed to introduce another identity document when Aadhaar already contains comprehensive personal data.
“There is a mystery behind this nativity scene,” the BJP leader said, adding that the move raised serious legal and constitutional questions.
He claimed the decision was aimed at wasting public money and accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his colleagues of tracking election-related funding through the project.
Mr. Muraleedharan said that the Left government in the past had issued statements that burdened the exchequer without offering any real benefits to the common man.
He called on the government to reverse decisions that led to the misuse of taxpayers’ money.
Referring to the now stalled SilverLine rail project, he said the government was currently looking at removing the yellow boundary markers that had previously been installed, again at public expense.
“This clearly shows how poorly thought out decisions are being made,” he said.
The criticism came a day after Chief Minister Vijayan announced that the government had approved in principle the replacement of the existing birth certificate with a permanent nativity card with an embedded photo.
Mr. Vijayan said the current system forces people to obtain certificates repeatedly for different purposes and lacks statutory legal backing.
The Chief Minister said the new card will help people easily prove their birth, residence or permanent status in Kerala and prevent exclusion.
He added that the finance department has been asked to prepare a bill to give legal effect to the card in consultation with the legal department.
However, the BJP strongly attacked the proposal.
The party’s state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the move would be legally challenged, calling it an example of “dangerous separatist politics” and claiming it was meant to divert attention from the ruling front’s recent electoral setbacks.
Published – 25 Dec 2025 19:04 IST
