Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 5 -- In the wake of the release of the Union budget for the upcoming financial year, the Kerala assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding that the Centre address long-pending developmental needs of the state.

The resolution was moved by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan under Rule 118 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the State Assembly. It was adopted unanimously in the absence of legislators from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which had boycotted the proceedings earlier in the day as part of its protest against the Left government over the Sabarimala gold theft case.

The resolution claimed that the "continued neglect of a state that has put forth a development perspectiv...