Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and the Congress on Monday (Mar 23, 2026) accused each other of trying to break the traditional Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) duopoly in Kerala by secretly trying to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in key Kerala assemblies.
The Palakkad constituency has emerged as the focal point of a raging dispute that is playing out heavily on the campaign trail and on airwaves. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan alleged that the CPI(M) had deliberately fielded NMR Razak, a hotelier, as the LDF’s independent candidate in Palakkad to help BJP’s Sobha Surendran by trying to split the minority votes that traditionally leaned towards the UDF. Ms. Surendran dismissed the allegations as a sign of panic in the UDF camp.
The tip of the iceberg
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said that Palakkad was only the tip of the iceberg. “In Ettumanur, the BJP nudged Twenty20, a recent partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), to field puppet candidates who were not even on the electoral roll to help the LDF. The CPI(M) has entered into an illegal pact with the BJP in more than 10 constituencies where the Congress BJP has a chance to win with India. The CPI(M)’s aim is to permanently keep the UDF out of power in Kerala,” he said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan pushed back by targeting the national Congress leadership, notably singling out Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Rahu Gandhi for criticism. At a press conference in Pathanamthitta, he said the Congress under Mr Gandhi had contributed to the BJP’s victory in the Delhi elections by fielding candidates against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) even though it had no chance of winning “even a single seat”.
Mr. Vijayan said the Congress had adopted a comparable strategy of self-defeat in the Haryana Assembly elections, undermining the national alliance against the BJP. “When the BJP arrested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on trumped-up charges, Congress workers burst crackers. The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the charges is a slap in the face of the Congress rather than the BJP,” he said.
CPI(M) leader AK Balan accused the Congress of trying to imbue the Palakkad campaign with communal colour, given that the independent LDF is Muslim, to consolidate the votes of the Hindu community in favor of UDF candidate Ramesh Pisharody. AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah found Mr Vijayan a willing tool to attack Mr Gandhi, who is waging a lone battle against the Sangh Parivar and its corporate backers.
Published – 23 March 2026 16:55 IST
