Thiruvananthapuram: Days after Kerala emerged as the top state as per the health index report prepared by the NITI Aayog, state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac today hit out at the BJP for its "false campaign" against the state, saying the leaders of the saffron party should be made to do 101 sit-ups as punishment.

As per the report, while the LDF-ruled Kerala was at the top of the list, BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh was at the bottom among the larger states. The BJP had unleashed a false propaganda in October last against the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala and the state BJP leaders had also joined in to "humiliate" the southern state for political gains, which was "shameful", Isaac said in a Facebook post.

BJP leaders should be made to do 101 sit-ups as punishment for their "collective false propaganda against Kerala state to defame it", he said. The health index report was a befitting reply to the "smear" campaign, the minister added.

Four months ago, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said during his party's "Jana Raksha Yatra" in Kannur that Kerala should take lessons from his state in the health sector.

Isaac pointed out that in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, several children had died allegedly due to the lack of oxygen supply in a state-run hospital and claimed that Uttar Pradesh accounted for the maximum cases of infant deaths in the country.

The report also saw the LDF and the opposition, the Congress-led UDF, sparring and laying claims for the achievement. State Health minister K K Shylaja said the report was a recognition of the achievements and steps taken in the health sector after the LDF government came to power in Kerala.

On the other hand, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said during 2015-16, it was the UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy which was in power and that the achievements of that regime were recognised by the Niti Aayog.

He had also alleged that the LDF government was a "total failure" as far as the health sector was concerned. According to the health index report, Kerala topped among the larger states on the overall health performance, followed by Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha were among the states that performed poorly in the health index.