Continuance in power helped LDF launch development works, claims Pinarayi Vijayan

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has claimed that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has been able to launch major development works in the State because of its continuance in power for two terms.

Addressing a campaign event for the upcoming local body polls in the Kozhikode Corporation at the beach on Sunday (December 7, 2025) evening, he said that such initiatives included the eradication of extreme poverty, widening of the national highway, and installation of a gas pipeline by Gas Authority of India Limted, among others.

Mr. Vijayan said that the government revived the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) to raise money through off-budget borrowings because the State exchequer was stretched to its limits. While the infrastructure development works taken up during the past decade using funds from the State exchequer were worth around ₹40,000 crore, those implemented using KIIFB funds were worth around ₹90,000 crore.

Terming the declaration of the State free from extreme poverty a major milestone, he said that it was made possible through a series of steps, including a gradual rise in the social security allowances for people from poor families and strengthening of the public food distribution system. Thereafter, micro-plans were launched to improve the living conditions of each beneficiary found to be suffering from extreme poverty, Mr. Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister also came down on the United Democratic Front (UDF) for ignoring these issues. He claimed that when the UDF government remitted office in 2016, social security pension was due for 18 months. It also did not make any attempts towards widening the national highways, which led the National Highways Authority of India to dismantle its operations here.

“I came here from Thrissur. It did not take more than two hours to reach Kozhikode. Once the ongoing works across the State are complete, the travelling time between various places will reduce considerably,” Mr. Vijayan said. The Chief Minister also released the LDF’s manifesto for the Kozhikode Corporation. Ministers P.A. Mohamed Riyas and A.K. Saseendran, and CPI(M) district secretary M. Mehboob, among others, were present.