Thiruvananthapuram, June 4 -- Former Keralam Finance Minister and senior CPI(M) leader KN Balagopal on Thursday criticised the White Paper on state finances presented in the Assembly, accusing the Chief Minister of presenting "partial facts" and heavily exaggerating the state's debt burden.

Balagopal pointed out glaring contradictions between the current report and the claims previously made by the Chief Minister during his tenure as the Leader of the Opposition. He stated that the latest figures completely debunk the earlier narrative that Kerala was drowning in unmanageable debt.

Addressing the media, the former Finance Minister argued that the actual liabilities are far lower than what was projected in the past and are well within ma...