Breaking his silence over the matter, Vijayan on Tuesday sounded tough and said a high-level probe by a top-ranking officer would be held into the charges raised by the MLA.
Senior AICC member and former Union minister K V Thomas, who has been at loggerheads with the party's state leadership, on Wednesday said he would campaign for the ruling Left Democratic Front candidate Jo Joseph in the upcoming by-poll in the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency, but reiterated that he would not quit the Congress.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asserted that the party's Kerala leaders 'stand as one' and were 'united' by the light of purpose ahead.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front over the gold smuggling scam, saying the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led government "betrayed" the people of the state just as Judas did to Lord Jesus for a few pieces of silver.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the revival of long-stalled India-UK FTA negotiations, posting a selfie with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds. Tharoor's post comes amid a row over his recent article praising the Kerala government's investment climate, which drew criticism from some Congress leaders.
Brisk polling was seen for the Wayanad Lok Sabha and the Chelakkara assembly seats in Kerala as they witnessed a turnout of 20.54 and 19.08 per cent, respectively, after the first three hours of voting on Wednesday.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, a key figure in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of the CPI(M) and served as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
The LDF unanimously decided not to have NCP in the front considering the "changed political climate" in that party after its merger with DIC-K on November 12, front convener Vaikom Viswan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
In a stunning electoral victory, the ruling Communist Party if India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), rode back to power in Kerala winning 99 of the 140 seats, bucking the over four decade long trend of Communists and Congress-led United Democratic Front coming to power alternatively.
Priyanka's victory seems assured, but the broader implications for Kerala's political landscape and South Indian politics remain to be seen.
The split in the Congress in the state caused by K Karunakaran has also helped LDF maintain its winning spree.
The ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala on Monday finalised the seat-sharing exercise among its constituents for all 140 assembly segments for the April 13 polls with lead partner Communist Party of India-Marxist getting the lion's share of 93.
The exit polls on Saturday predicted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance winning most of the seats in Congress-ruled Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections and the Congress not putting up a good show.
Ruling Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Saturday suffered a setback in the civic elections, billed as the semifinal ahead of next year's assembly polls, as CPI-M-led LDF won a majority of local bodies while the BJP made inroads improving its performance.
Normal life was on Wednesday disrupted in Kerala due to the dawn-to-dusk 12-hour hartal called by Communist Party of India-Marxist led Left Democratic Front to demand resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam issue.
The Election Commission has said it will allow suspected fake voters to cast their ballots in the Palakkad assembly by-poll, but will take action against them later. The CPI(M), Congress, and BJP have accused each other of enrolling fake voters. The by-poll is scheduled for November 20.
'What matters is policies, not personalities like Priyanka, Rahul or Modi.'
'For the UDF, it will depend on how far Rahul Gandhi will succeed with the goodwill he has.' 'That will make a difference.'
The grand old party alleged that these namesake candidates are backed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party to confuse voters.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
"They call themselves the champions of speech and expression. But deny the same for the people of Kerala."
The political rhetoric of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was not going to help the ruling Left Democratic Front in its 'losing battle' for the assembly polls as people of Kerala were keen on a change of rule, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said on Monday.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
At least one commentator felt that both the BJP's reach and popularity had been underestimated in Kerala. They have shown systematic gain; one that seems personality-neutral and therefore institutionalised, explains Shyam G Menon.
Claiming that the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala had little to show as its achievement, Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday said the state would become the 'second Bengal' if the Left alliance returned to power.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
He said, during a press meet in Kannur, that during the LS polls, alliances were being formed in various states as part of the platform and its result was that the Bharatiya Janata Party was being largely isolated.
'I will win the election. The Congress and BJP are fighting for second place.'
Local residents have stressed that land acquisition for rehabilitation must be completed promptly, as it has been delayed after estate owners challenged it in the Kerala high court.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
Even as the dust settles on one election, glory in Thiruvananthapuram has come with a new question on the horizon: Who will be UDF's candidate in the next Lok Sabha election given Shashi Tharoor has said 2024 would be his last? It isn't a vacancy that can be easily filled, points out Shyam G Menon.
Beleaguered Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who is under attack from the Communist Party of India - Marxist-led Left Democratic Front opposition ever since the solar scam broke out in June, has got a breather after the Front called off its two-day secretariat siege on Tuesday.
Political pundits unanimously suggest that the state is not experiencing a discernible Gandhi wave this time around.
