The Kerala government made a political statement with its latest budget presented by Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Monday.
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution was used on the cover of the budget document.
It is not the first time the Kerala government has used the Budget document to drive across a political point. The 2020-21 budget presented by then Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac in February 2020 had a painting depicting the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi as its cover.
Isaac later said the cover, done by a Malayalam artist, was indeed a "political statement". "We are sending out a message that we will not forget who murdered Gandhi," Isaac later said. The cover of the budget speech in English was slightly different, but similar nevertheless. It was a collage that depicted a student at her desk and another image of the assassin, Nathuram Godse, holding a handgun in front of the Mahatma.
The budget was presented at a time when widespread protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were held throughout the country.
Minister Balagopal has yet to explain the choice of the latest cover, but it appears to be a reiteration of the political position taken by several celebrities and prominent leaders of the state-ruling CPM on the occasion of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
Former Speaker and Minister for Local Self Government, M B Rajesh, was among those who shared the Preamble on January 22. In a lengthy note, he reminded that the nation needs to be 'secular beyond doubt'.
The 'citizen engagement platform' of the Government of India had raised eyebrows on the eve of the Republic Day by sharing the 'original preamble', which was devoid of the terms 'socialist', 'secular' and 'integrity' that were amended during the Emergency in the late 1970s.
