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

Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan 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, after the arrest of Congress leader and KPCC political affairs committee member N. Subramanian, who was accused of sharing an AI-generated image on social media implicating Chief Minister Unnikrishnan Potti in the Sabarimala gold theft.

Mr. Satheesan said the Prime Minister could not intimidate Congress and UDF leaders into surrendering by what he described as autocratic actions. “We will ask all our leaders to publish the photo showing the Prime Minister with Potti. Let him arrest us all,” he said.

Mr Subramanian had shared the image to counter the widespread misinformation campaign against Sonia Gandhi, which used similar images showing her with Potti. Mr. Satheesan pointed out that the Prime Minister’s meeting with Potti was a fact reported in the media. He also alleged that the CPI(M)’s cyber cell was indulging in constant personal attacks against senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and complained that no action was taken even on the petition he submitted to the DGP.

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

Mr Satheesan also criticized the government for double standards and noted that while Opposition leaders were being treated as criminals, the CPI(M) leader, who was convicted of hurling a bomb at a police vehicle and sentenced to 20 years in prison, was eligible for parole within a month. “Aren’t you also responsible for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the police?” he asked.

Referring to the LDF’s debacle in the last local body elections, Mr. Satheesan said people had already given a warning to the Prime Minister. “An even bigger warning is on the horizon in 2026.” [in the form of a similar verdict in the Assembly election]he added.