A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan campaigned heavily for the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) here, the Congress on Saturday (December 6, 2025) questioned his claims, calling them “far from reality”.
District Congress Committee (DCC) President Muhammed Shiyas told the media here that the chief minister was trying to whitewash the LDF, which failed to address basic infrastructure problems in the city during the five-year administration of the Kochi Corporation.
“The Chief Minister claimed that Operation Breakthrough, carried out to address waterlogging in the city at a cost of ₹ 25 crore, was a huge success. However, all major roads in the city were sinking in the recent rains,” Mr. Shiyas said.
Contrary to the chief minister’s promise of a third roll-on roll-off service, the Congress leader said the LDF government had undermined the project successfully implemented by the United Democratic Front (UDF) by not paying for annual maintenance. “Frequent service interruptions due to technical glitches also rendered the service ineffective,” he said.
He also questioned Mr. Boss’s claim of solving traffic woes with smart roads. “Most of the roads in the city remain in ruins. The problem has only worsened. No money has been spent to build new roads and bridges. Work on the second phase of the Kochi Metro towards Infopark is progressing at a snail’s pace. Steps to develop the Thammanam-Pulleppady road have not progressed,” Shiyas said.
Shiyas called the LDF’s rule in the corporation a “regime of corruption”. Reacting to Mayor M Anilkumar’s allegation that the Congress had an uneasy relationship with the BJP in several departments of the Corporation, the DCC chief said the CPI(M) was peddling lies for fear of electoral failure. “The CPI(M) is afraid to fight for its own symbol in many areas in the district,” Mr. Shiyas said, calling it a tactic to secure BJP and SDPI votes.
Published – 06 Dec 2025 20:54 IST
