Shashi Tharoor says Kerala ‘invisible’ in Union Budget, bats ‘as a Malayali’ in election year

COngress leader Shashi Tharoor sharply took on the role of an counselor for his place say Kerala on sun after the Union Budget for 2026-27 was revealed by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He even called for an online campaign with a hashtag #InvisibleKerala on X.“As the MP for Kerala's capital (Thiruvananthapuram), I see that our State Budget was built on a fantasy of central funds that today's Union Budget has explicitly failed to deliver,” Tharoor said, seeking to pin both the BJP-led NDA and the Communist-led ruling LDF in Kerala.The state goes to polls soon, and the Congress-led UDF is hoping to vacate the opposition benches and replace the LDF on the treasury side in the assembly.Tharoor, who recently appeared to have made up with the central Congress leadership, apparently has chief ministerial ambitions tied with that. “Sadly, the Malayali is caught between a Centre indifferent to our pain and a State Government in denial of its own fiscal profligacy. We need an alternative that commands respect in Delhi and delivers development in Kerala. Right now, we have neither,” Tharoor wrote on X."There is nothing in this budget that makes me satisfied as a Malayali," he told news agency PTI.On his X handle, his series of posts spoke of a host of issues.“For a state that contributes so robustly to the nation’s forex reserves, skilled workforce, and soft power, Kerala appears to be entirely invisible in the Centre’s fiscal vision. A ‘Budget of Invisible Kerala’ in an election year is a message in itself,” he posted.“While three new NIPERs (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) have been announced, there is no clarity on their location. With multiple NIPERs in northern and eastern India and only one serving the entire South (in Hyderabad), denying Kerala a NIPER, despite its strong public health ecosystem, would deepen regional imbalance,” he wrote.He spoke of the environment too. “Our coastlines are eroding — we are losing actual Indian territory to the sea annually. If this were a land border, it would be a defence emergency. On the coast, it is met with apathy. No ‘war-footing’ package for coastal protection suggests the Centre takes Kerala’s geography for granted. And the step-motherly treatment of the coastal community continues,” he wrote.He praised the announcement of seven new high-speed rail corridors, but added that “the glaring exclusion of Kerala is indefensible”.“The Centre ignores us, and the State proposes paper projects it cannot afford. Our commuters are left with nothing. We need actual trains, not new acronyms,” he added.He decried what he termed “deafening silence” on an AIIMS for Kerala. “Even the promise of an All-India Institute of Ayurveda remains a mirage since Kerala is not mentioned. Thiruvananthapuram’s potential as a medical hub is being systematically stifled,” he alleged.He said he got a “disquieting sense of déjà vu” from the FM’s speech.In an interview, he deployed cricketing analogy — one of the interests of the author and former global diplomat — to express his disappointment with the budget, saying Nirmala Sitharaman "seems to have missed the ball".Tharoor also said the BJP-led NDA did not focus on another national opposition-ruled state in southern India, Kerala's neighbour Tamil Nadu. "Even though there were subheadings about fisheries, about cashew and coconut which may benefit us. We assume it should benefit us, but we have not yet seen and certainly Kerala wasn't named... So as a Kerala MP, I must say I have nothing to be happy about in this budget," he told PTI.