Kerala’s Opposition Leader V. D Satheesan calls CM Pinarayi Vijayan an autocrat

Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan has accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of increasingly behaving like an autocrat and becoming a disgrace to the State.

He was speaking to reporters at his office in North Paravur on Saturday (December 27, 2025), following the arrest of Congress leader and KPCC political affairs committee member N. Subramanian who was charged with allegedly sharing on social media an AI-generated image showing the Chief Minister with Sabarimala gold theft accused Unnikrishnan Potti.

Mr. Satheesan said the Chief Minister cannot intimidate Congress and UDF leaders into submission through what he described as autocratic acts. “We will ask all our leaders to post the picture showing the Chief Minister with Potti. Let him arrest all of us,” he declared.

Mr. Subramanian had shared the image to counter the widespread misinformation campaign against Sonia Gandhi, which used similar pictures showing her with Potti. Mr. Satheesan pointed out that the Chief Minister’s meeting with Potti was a fact reported by the media. He further alleged that CPI(M)’s cyber cell has been engaged in constant personal attacks against senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and lamented that no action has been taken even on his petition to the DGP.

He accused CPI(M) of being the biggest user of AI-driven posts on social media. “Will you arrest those CPI(M) leaders?” he asked.

Mr. Satheesan also criticised the government for double standards, noting that while Opposition leaders are treated like criminals, a CPI(M) leader convicted of hurling a bomb at a police vehicle, and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, was granted parole within a month. “Aren’t you also in charge of the Home Ministry and the police?” he asked.

Mr. Satheesan said that people have already given the Chief Minister a warning, referring to the LDF’s debacle in the recent local body polls. “An even bigger warning is on the horizon in 2026 [in the form of a similar verdict in the Assembly election],” he added.