Thiruvalla ( Kerala) April 2 (IANS): V.D. Satheesan, the leader of opposition in the Kerala Assembly, on Tuesday accused Thomas Isaac, the two-time former state Finance Minister and CPI-M candidate from the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, of driving the state into penury.

“Isaac is solely responsible for the financial shambles that Kerala is presently in, and now he is promising to give Pathanamthitta a new look, which is the biggest joke,” Satheesan said.

Isaac -- the economics professor-turned-politician -- was the Finance Minister from 2006-11 (under V.S. Achuthanandan), and then again from 2016-21, during the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government's first term.

Isaac was not fielded in the 2021 Assembly elections, and since then he has returned to academics. However, last year he was asked to concentrate in Pathanamthitta from where he has now been asked to contest.

“On Monday, the Supreme Court dealt a stinging blow to the Kerala government after the latter filed a petition claiming the Centre is not giving the state financial freedom. All along, both Vijayan and his party were saying that the Centre owes Rs 56,700 crore to the state, but there is no mention of this figure in the petition. The state has already borrowed Rs 15,000 crore upfront for the new fiscal. Things are in a bad shape,” Satheesan said.

“The opposition has been pointing out that the state is heading towards its worst financial crisis for a while now, but we were only ridiculed by Isaac. But what we said came out in the open in the apex court on Monday, which has now sent the petition to be heard by a Constitution Bench,” he added.

Isaac is pitted against sitting Congress MP Anto Antony who's aiming for his fourth successive victory. Also in the fray is the BJP candidate Anil Antony, the son of former Defence Minister and veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony.