Satheesan, Pinarayi trades harsh words on power supply deals in Kerala

Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan with LoP and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. File | Photo credit: Nirmal Harindran

The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has again called on Chief Minister VD Satheesan to release all documents related to his decision to choose electricity supply from GNA Energy OTC over the Himachal Pradesh government’s bid, even as Mr. Satheesan claimed that the decision was taken after careful examination of both proposals. The then KSEB chairman and managing director MG Rajamanickam, in his communication to the government, said the GNA proposal “can also be considered,” Mr Satheesan said on Saturday.

“Is the Leader of the Opposition (Pinarayi Vijayan) who continues to criticize the decision to get electricity through the GNA not aware of this memo? Or is he feigning ignorance?” said the Chief Minister.

“Deepening Confusion”

Earlier on Saturday, Mr. Vijayan accused the Chief Minister of running away from the allegations leveled against him by the Opposition and deepening the secrecy and confusion over power purchase proposals. “There is no dispute that the minister concerned (Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph) after official discussions recorded his opinion in favor of Himachal Pradesh government’s bid. On what law and criteria did the Chief Minister decide in favor of GNA Energy?” said Mr. Vijayan.

If Mr. Satheesan was really convinced that he was in the right, what stopped him from releasing all the files, the letter written by KSEB to the government and the cabinet notes on the power purchase decision, asked Mr. Vijayan.

CM’s reply

In a strong statement hours later, the chief minister replied that the decision was taken after studying the file and that the UDF government “is not signing any tissue paper that will be presented to it”. “The Leader of the Opposition is repeatedly asking where the documents are. When you (Mr Vijayan) were Chief Minister, did you ever give the opposition any of the documents it demanded? Even the questions were not answered. The CPI(M) union in KSEB gave you all the files. If you need more, you can always get them through institutional means,” Satheesan said.

On Friday, the chief minister called the opposition’s allegations “baseless” and reiterated his original argument that the GNA’s offer was beneficial to the state in terms of unit price and peak needs. Mr. Satheesan also sought to refute Mr. Vijayan’s claim that the UDF government was creating an “artificial power crisis” to serve the interests of corporate monopolies in the power sector. Mr. Satheesan also quoted from the October 26 letter sent by Mr. Rajamanickam: “An immediate decision is imperative as the proposal has been under consideration for more than two weeks. The existing power shortage in the state, coupled with insufficient rainfall, limited availability of hydropower and reported El Niño conditions, leaves little room to absorb further uncertainty in KS supply, but it will not be possible to extend the equivalent EB, but no available EB will be lost EB, will be lost without replacement.power outages, even during the critical summer months, therefore pose a direct risk to the continuity of electricity supply in Kerala.

Published – 07 Nov 2026 20:31 IST