Thiruvananthapuram, June 19 -- Leader of the Opposition in the Keralam assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, criticised the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government's first State Budget after returning to power, alleging that it marked a departure from welfare-oriented policies and the development model pursued by the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

In a post on X, Vijayan said on Friday that the UDF had come to power projecting itself as supportive of Left ideals and committed to Nehruvian socialism, but alleged that the Budget reflected a different direction.

"The UDF came to power projecting itself as pro-Left and committed to Nehruvian socialism. This very first Budget, however, marks the complete abandonment of that pretence. At a ...