Ahead of UDF’s Puthuyuga Yatra, V.D. Satheesan flags Kerala’s financial crisis and promises vision for State’s future

Kerala’s Opposition Leader VD Satheesan said Kerala has been plunged into a serious financial crisis and a large number of youth have been forced to migrate out of the State, and warned that if the current situation continues, Kerala “could turn into a nursing home within five years”.

Speaking to reporters in Kasaragod ahead of UDF’s Puthuyuga Yatra event scheduled to start from Kumbala on Friday, February 6, 2026, Mr. Satheesan launched a scathing attack on the State government, stating that Kerala has never witnessed such deep economic distress in the past. He claimed that the government was “staying afloat with huge debts”, the health sector was in a “breathless state” and agriculture was “in a state of collapse”.

He said the 30-day yatra will end in Thiruvananthapuram on March 7 and around 75% of the journey will be devoted to discussing “what the future of Kerala should look like”. “Wherever the current government fails, UDF has alternative plans,” he said, adding that the yatra will put before the people a clear vision of “future Kerala”.

“Although mismanagement and governance failures have been strongly criticized, this journey will be different from traditional protest marches and will feature dreamlike revelations never seen before,” he said, adding that visual documents and exhibitions would also be part of the campaign.

Reiterating the UDF’s “commitment to secularism”, Mr. Satheesan said there would be no compromise on the issue and would “strictly oppose communalism”.

During Sabarimala golden

He said the Sabarimala gold issue would be a “major topic of discussion” and said there were public concerns about “attempts to close the Sabarimala gold smuggling case without evidence”. He alleged that the investigation team had not collected even basic material evidence and warned that defendants released on bail could “destroy” evidence, raising serious concerns about the investigation.

Mr. Satheesan said that if UDF convener Adoor Prakash is to be questioned, the Chief Minister should also be questioned while calling for the resignation of the Devaswom Minister.

Alleging that the TP Chandrasekaran murder case convict had received parole for nearly 1,000 days, he alleged that the CPI(M) “grants parole indiscriminately” to convicts in criminal cases. “Releasing political case convicts during the election period poses a serious risk,” he said.

Accusing the CPI(M) of “misappropriation of martyrs’ funds”, he alleged that it had adopted “double standards in sacking V. Kunhikrishnan while protecting former TDB chief Padmakumar”.

About congregational support

Mr. Satheesan said the UDF will accept support from Jamaat-e-Islami, stating that the organization has made it clear that it does not support the idea of ​​a theocratic state. He added: “They had sided with the CPI(M) when theocratic ideas were supported earlier.”

He said that “everyone knows who will be strengthened” if the Indian Union Muslim League weakens and the UDF’s effort is to “keep everyone together” to avoid this scenario. He also said that the criticisms of NSS and SNDP leaders were of a “personal nature” and were not directed at the Congress or the UDF, and if corrections were required, they could be made.

Expressing confidence in the upcoming Assembly elections, Mr. Satheesan said Kerala “will have a Congress President in the next five years” and “UDF team will return to power with more than 100 seats”.

He clarified that seat-sharing talks within the UDF are yet to be completed and neither candidate has started campaigning.

Stating that “a new era has begun and communist rule has ended”, he said Puthuyuga Yatra “targets ordinary people trying to make a living, not the elite”.