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

Kerala’s Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan on Saturday (January 17, 2026) said the social media campaign by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) discouraging people from contributing to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) is a “blatant lie”.

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

Responding to allegations of lack of transparency in funds collected by the UDF to build a town for families who lost their homes in the landslide, Mr. Satheesan said the funds were in the 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 required to build the township. We were also told that we would not be given land to build houses. Later, we identified a land and registered it. The money required to build the houses is in our joint account. But CPI(M) cyber arms are spreading the lie that the money was misused,” he said.

Mr. Satheesan reiterated that the Congress government in Karnataka had given ₹20 crore to the Kerala government to build 100 houses and that work on the 100 houses being built by the Indian Union Muslim League, a key partner of the UDF, was progressing. “Is there anything really wrong with what I said?” Mr. Satheesan asked.

He alleged that the government had defaulted on paying rental assistance and medical expenses to several affected families, “despite having £742 million” for the rehabilitation of landslide victims.

crashes CM

Mr. Satheesan alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan “continues to peddle social narratives” at the valedictory session of the Kerala Yatra campaign organized by the Kerala Muslim Community and led by Sunni leader Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar.

“The Prime Minister and the CPI(M) are adopting the same strategy of triggering conflicts between religion and caste groups to gain political gain. So if he makes tall claims on secularism, shouldn’t we respond?” he asked.

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