Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala
| Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged a “deal” involving Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to defeat the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the forthcoming Kerala Assembly elections.
Mr. Chennithala said in Kochi on Monday (March 23, 2026) that Mr. Vijayan was trying to “help” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win seats through “this unholy alliance.”
“It is a political deal to defeat the UDF. However, the electorate will give a befitting reply against the deal between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the BJP,” he said.
He said the deal is “evident” in Ettumanoor and Palakkad constituencies going by the candidates fielded by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “The BJP has handed over seats to its new ally Twenty20 as part of this alliance with the CPI(M) in Ettumanoor. Interestingly, two of the persons shortlisted by the Twenty20 as its candidates could not even contest as their names were missing from the voters’ list,” he alleged.
Mr. Chennithala asked whether Mr. Vijayan will tender an apology to devotees on his earlier stance that women of menstrual age must be permitted into the Sabarimala temple. He alleged that the government’s recent written submissions submitted before the Supreme Court “lacked clarity” on the government’s position on the issue. “The Left government has not yet clearly mentioned that women of menstrual age need not be permitted into the shrine,” he said.
The Congress leader accused the government of having exerted pressure on the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case. He alleged that the SIT’s “failure” to submit the chargesheet on time has helped the accused, including leaders of the CPI(M), to secure bail. “The government will face the ire of devotees for having hurt their sentiments in this election,” he said.
Mr. Chennithala also criticised the Chief Minister for describing the decision by former CPI(M) leader G. Sudhakaran to contest from Ambalappuzha with the support of the UDF as “utterly despicable”, saying that it “lacked dignity”.
Published – March 23, 2026 02:59 pm IST
