Kerala Assembly elections: Congress reiterates LDF-NDA ‘secret deal’ claims

Congress leaders in Kerala accuse LDF and NDA of a secret deal to undermine their influence in the upcoming Assembly elections.

The Congress has reiterated its allegations of a “secret deal” between the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections.

Addressing the media in Kozhikode on Wednesday (March 25, 2026), senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee, said there was an “unwritten political understanding” between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “keep the Congress away from power” in Kerala.

Mr. Chennithala alleged that the tie-up had begun during the 2021 polls. “The aim is to isolate the UDF and realise the dream of a Congress-free India,” he said.

Claiming that in 2021, votes of the NDA were transferred to the CPI(M) in 69 seats, Mr. Chennithala said: “The UDF had received 40% of the votes then. The vote share of the NDA, which was 14% in the previous Parliament election, dipped to 10%. Because of the vote transfer, the LDF managed to get 44% votes and retained power. A similar political situation is being repeated now.”

Citing “an example”, Mr. Chennithala pointed out that Twenty20, an NDA constituent and a corporate-backed political party confined to the Kunnathunad area in Ernakulam district, has been given 22 seats now. “Twenty20’s candidates have been fielded in major constituencies where senior CPI(M) candidates are facing electoral challenges. In some other places, another NDA constituent, the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), is contesting. Most of their candidates are relatively unknown or are unfamiliar,” he said.

Mr. Chennithala also alleged that the SNC-Lavalin corruption case, in which Mr. Vijayan was the seventh accused, was deferred 41 times “because of the secret deal.”