Thiruvananthapuram, March 30 Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accepted the challenge from Congress leader V D Satheesan for a public debate on Monday, further intensifying the political rivalry ahead of the April 9 Assembly elections.
A day after Satheesan challenged him for a public debate, Vijayan shared the LDF government's "performance report" on his social media account and said the discussion could be held based on the achievements listed in it.
Highlighting what he termed as the government's "excellent" performance, the chief minister asked whether the opposition was ready to debate on those points.
Shortly after Vijayan's post, Satheesan said he accepted the challenge and was ready for the debate at a time and venue decided by the CM.
"Now that the chief minister has said he is ready for a debate, he can decide the place and time. I will be there accordingly. Let the people decide the rest," Satheesan said in a Facebook post.
This development follows Satheesan's criticism on Sunday that the LDF government had not built as many houses in the past 10 years as were constructed during the tenure of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
He also said that the detailed figures of various development projects implemented through different departments were available in replies given by LDF ministers in the Assembly, and reiterated his readiness for an open debate with Vijayan on development issues.