Nirmala Sitharaman should not stick to old policies: Ex-Kerala FM

Thiruvananthapuram, June 11 (IANS) Two-time former Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Tuesday said FM Nirmala Sitharaman should not stick to old policies which only caused jobless growth and farmers unrest.

“Woe to the people if re-sworn FM is going to stick on to policies that have given cause to farmers unrest, jobless growth, damp consumption demand, decline in capital formation and hostility to state fiscal rights. Too much to expect any drastic change, but at least a moderation?” Thomas Isaac wrote on X.

He alleged that with Nirmala Sitharaman back as Finance Minister, Kerala will have nothing to cheer about as she will repeat all his policies which people have witnessed from 2019 to 2024.

“The Left which has only one MP in Lok Sabha and we will be the lone warriors against the economic policies of the incumbent government,” the former state Finance Minister said.

He alleged that the Congress-led UDF MPs are hand-in-glove with the BJP to strangulate Kerala of its economic due share.

The economist-turned-politician, Thomas Isaac, suffered his first electoral defeat after he lost Congress MP at the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat.

Isaac (71) won successive four terms as a legislator from his home district – Alappuzha from 1996 to 2016.

Since 2021, the economist-cum-politician has gone back to academics.

In the recent past, there have also been reports that Isaac may get a Rajya Sabha seat. However, on Monday, the seat from the CPI-M quota, due to political compulsions, was given to another CPI-M leader Jose K.Mani.