Kerala Opposition Leader says UDF never campaigned against making contributions to CMDRF

Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Saturday (January 17, 2026) said the social media campaign that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dissuaded people from making contributions to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) was “a blatant lie.”

Speaking to the media in Kochi, Mr. Satheesan said UDF MLAs, including him, alone had contributed ₹19 lakh to the fund in the wake of the devastating landslides in Wayanad.

Responding to allegations of lack of transparency in the funds collected by the UDF to build a township for families who lost their homes in the landslides, Mr. Satheesan said the funds were in a joint account of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and the Leader of the Opposition. “It took a year for the government to identify the land for building a township. It was also said that land would not be provided to us for building houses. After that, we identified a land parcel and got it registered. The money for building the houses is in our joint account. But the CPI(M) cyber handles are spreading the lie that the money has been misappropriated,” he said.

Mr. Satheesan reiterated that the Congress government in Karnataka handed over ₹20 crore to the Kerala government to build 100 houses, and that works on 100 houses being built by the Indian Union Muslim League, a key UDF partner, were progressing. “Is there anything factually wrong in what I said?” Mr. Satheesan asked.

He alleged that the government has defaulted on payment of rental assistance and medical expenses to several affected families “despite having ₹742 crore” for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims.

Slams CM

Mr. Satheesan alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan “kept peddling communal narratives” at the valedictory session of the Kerala Yatra campaign organised by the Kerala Muslim Jamaat and led by Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar.

“The Chief Minister and the CPI(M) have been adopting the same strategy of triggering clashes between religious and caste groups to derive political benefit. Then if he makes tall claims of secularism, aren’t we supposed to respond?” he asked.

Mr. Satheesan said the allegations against the late Congress leader and former Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan were aimed at “belittling the gravity” of the alleged gold theft from the Sabarimala temple.