Kerala Assembly polls 2026: Pinarayi, LDF fake confidence sensing defeat in polls, says Chennithala

Speaking at the ‘meet the leader’ programme at the Ernakulam Press Club, Mr. Chennithala described the past 10 years of the LDF rule as a “dark phase” in the State’s development history.

He sought to step up his allegation of a ₹700-crore corruption in the cooperative sector, saying that the government was all set to award the contract to develop a ‘uniform software solution’ for 4,415 primary agriculture cooperative credit society (PACS) branches in the State to the Kannur-based Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers’ Central Cooperative Society Ltd which allegedly has no prior experience in IT. “The government’s plan was curtailed by the sudden announcement of the Assembly elections,” he said.

He alleged that while the Malabar Information Technology had offered to supply the software to a branch at ₹5.24 lakh, attempts were on to award the contract to the Dinesh Beedi forum at an inflated rate of ₹17.8 lakh per unit. “The Kerala High Court stay on the process vindicates the Opposition’s allegations,” he said.

Anti-incumbency sentiment

He claimed that he could sense from the ground that a strong anti-incumbency sentiment prevailed in the State. He accused the government of burdening people through repeated hikes in bus fares and electricity tariffs, and even increasing charges on drinking water.

Alleging that Kerala lags behind neighbouring States in attracting investments, Mr. Chennithala said the LDF government could not bring in a single big ticket project in 10 years.

He added that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Kerala on Monday and Tuesday. “On Monday, he will tour the Adoor, Pathanamthitta, Puthuppally and Ettumanur constituencies and on Tuesday he will be in Malabar region,” Mr. Chennithala said.