In a blistering attack on the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, opposition leader VD Satheesan has charged the party with orchestrating a deliberate communal narrative, with the full knowledge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Speaking in the state assembly on Tuesday, Satheesan zeroed in on the controversial statements made by Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian, labeling them as a calculated move to stoke divisions.
Satheesan detailed a sequence of events that he claims exposes the premeditated strategy. He pointed out how the Chief Minister’s PR agency first briefed Delhi media, followed by Vijayan echoing the same points in an interview before distancing himself. ‘This pattern screams orchestration,’ Satheesan asserted, noting how the narrative was then amplified by community leaders aligned with the ruling party, senior CPI(M) figure AK Balan, and finally Cherian.
Describing Cherian’s remarks as one of the most shocking from a Kerala minister in administrative history, Satheesan accused him of violating his constitutional oath for electoral gains by invoking caste lines. He questioned why Vijayan failed to rein in his minister or own up to the provocative rhetoric.
The opposition leader slammed CPI(M)’s tactic of prompting controversial statements from its leaders only to later decry them as normal, aiming to mainstream communal posturing. Satheesan vowed that the UDF would mount fierce protests inside and outside the assembly.
Dismissing CPI(M)’s claims that UDF relies solely on minority votes, Satheesan highlighted the front’s broad appeal across communities, evident in recent local body elections where it triumphed even in CPI(M) strongholds. He warned that the ruling party’s adoption of Sangh Parivar-style divisive tactics in Kerala’s sensitive social fabric is ‘playing with fire.’
Recalling CPI(M)’s past endorsement of the Indian Union Muslim League as a secular force during the Babri Masjid demolition—when Kerala stayed peaceful—Satheesan predicted that voters would decisively reject this communal strategy in the 2026 assembly polls. ‘Secularism remains the bedrock of UDF and Kerala’s future,’ he concluded emphatically.