Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan and IUML leader P.K. Kunhalikutty, with the 76 UDF candidates for the Kozhikode Corporation election, at an election convention in the city on November 22.
| Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
The United Democratic Front (UDF) has an alternative plan for Kerala’s social and economic development, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan has said. He was delivering a speech to open the UDF’s election convention for the Kozhikode Corporation ahead of the local body polls here on Saturday (November 22).
Mr. Satheesan claimed that the State’s public debt had skyrocketed to ₹6 lakh crore because of the flawed policies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the past nine-and-a-half years. The Kerala State Electricity Board’s debt had reached ₹50,000 crore. The monthly expenses of middle-class families had gone up by at least ₹15,000 in the past year alone. “The economy is in a bad shape. Youngsters are forced to migrate to other States and countries in search of better education and jobs. We need a change in this situation, and the UDF has a plan for the purpose,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Satheesan also accused Kadakampally Surendran, former Devaswom Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, of being complicit in the alleged theft of gold-plated claddings at the Sabarimala Temple. He claimed that Unnikrishnan Potti, one of the accused in the case, was close to Mr. Surendran. “A procession of CPI(M) leaders to jail has begun, and this will go on for some time. If the High Court had not intervened, these corrupt practices would not have come to light. The original gold-plated claddings were sold to one billionaire and were replaced by copper plates,” he said.
P.K. Kunhalikutty, MLA, and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader, said that a change was in the air and the people would vote out the LDF in the upcoming local body polls and the Assembly polls. The UDF would devise programmes to improve the living conditions of all sections of people, he added.
Later, all the 76 candidates contesting the election to the corporation were introduced to the audience. M.K. Raghavan, Hibi Eden, and Shafi Parambil, MPs, and M.K. Muneer, MLA, among others, were present.
Published – November 22, 2025 07:46 pm IST
