Synopsis: Opposition leader VD Satheesan questioned the authenticity of the government’s figures, pointing out that while the LDF’s 2016 manifesto estimated 4.5 lakh extremely poor people, the chief minister now claimed that the number had dwindled to 64,000 “overnight.”

A war of words erupted in the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Saturday, 1 November — the day the state celebrated its 69th formation anniversary — as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan formally declared Kerala “free from extreme poverty”.

The moment, which the government described as “historic”, was marred by a dramatic walkout by the Opposition, which termed the declaration “a big fraud”.

Opposition’s argument

Before the Chief Minister could rise to make his statement — moved as a resolution under Rule 300 of the Assembl

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