Kerala stands at a crossroads, not just economically but democratically. At a time when the state faces a growing pile of developmental challenges ballooning debt, eroding infrastructure, rural despair, drug crises, and environmental hazards the political discourse has become hopelessly distracted. Frivolous controversies and personality feuds dominate the headlines, while pressing matters receive only passing mention.
Over the past decade, Kerala’s public debt has surged from ₹1.62 lakh crore to ₹4.29 lakh crore, with estimates warning it could soon breach ₹6 lakh crore. The debt-to-GSDP ratio stood at 38.2% in 2022–23, a figure that should raise urgent fiscal alarm. Yet, neither the ruling front nor the opposition appears willing to take ownership of this economic descent or to offer the people a transparent roadmap forward.
Equally concerning is the state’s deteriorating infrastructure. Roads riddled with potholes, bridges that collapse without warning, delayed public transport projects, and mounting maintenance costs have become the norm. In many areas, travel and safety have become daily concerns, yet political manifestos remain silent or vague about viable solutions.
Farmers across Kerala the backbone of our food security have seen their trust in the system evaporate. In districts like Thrissur, paddy farmers are owed crores in unpaid procurement dues, even as incentive programs shrink and support prices stagnate. These aren’t abstract statistics; they represent broken promises, delayed payments, and livelihoods pushed to the brink.
The drug menace is another crisis that has gone largely unaddressed by both policy and public dialogue. Kerala now ranks among the highest in the country for narcotics cases, with over 27,000 NDPS-related arrests in a single year triple the numbers seen in traditionally high-risk states like Punjab. Schools and colleges are increasingly vulnerable, and an entire generation faces the threat of addiction. Yet there’s a lack of comprehensive, well-funded anti-drug strategies from any major political camp.
Meanwhile, human-wildlife conflicts continue to take lives. Nearly 940 people have reportedly died from animal attacks in Kerala between 2016 and 2024, a stark reminder that conservation policies must go hand in hand with rural safety measures. Yet, despite the yearly toll, this issue barely surfaces in campaign debates or legislative agendas.
Health and education, Kerala’s long-touted strongholds, are showing visible cracks. Public hospitals face staff shortages, outdated infrastructure, and supply deficits. Higher education institutions struggle with declining academic quality and lack of faculty. Twenty-three custodial deaths in the current government's tenure have further raised concerns over law enforcement accountability and human rights. Still, these systemic problems continue to be brushed aside in favor of inconsequential distractions.
Even corruption long a voter concern has lost its urgency in political narratives. Scandals involving temple finances, mismanagement in panchayats, and irregularities in public works have surfaced in recent years. However, without consistent follow-up or legal consequences, public cynicism is deepening.
The role of the media in this environment cannot be ignored. While investigative journalism should serve as a check on power, much of Kerala’s media landscape has veered toward sensationalism. Instead of acting as watchdogs of public interest, some outlets function more as amplifiers of noise. This has helped reduce political campaigns to spectacle, not substance.
It is time for a course correction. Citizens must demand more from those who seek their mandate. Political parties should be presenting detailed blueprints: How will they tackle the state’s debt burden? What will they do to support farmers, revive infrastructure, curb the drug crisis, and reform education and healthcare? Governance must return to center stage not in vague slogans, but in verifiable commitments backed by budgets, metrics, and accountability.
Kerala’s electoral conversation must rise above pettiness and return to the real challenges people face every day. Public trust is eroding not because voters are apathetic, but because they are consistently denied the respect of real answers. Political theatre must give way to political responsibility. Leaders owe their constituents clarity, not chaos; plans, not posturing.
If democracy is to thrive in Kerala, its foundations must be rebuilt not on scandals and speculation, but on substance and service. It’s time to leave distractions behind and demand answers where they matter most.