Idukki (Kerala) | The Congress on Monday accused the Left government in Kerala of "misusing" the official machinery and public funds for election campaigning and said it would pursue legal action against the alleged violations.

Alleging large-scale misuse of administrative systems, the opposition party claimed that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had "illegally accessed" data from the SPARK portal, the official platform used for processing salaries of government employees.

Speaking to reporters in Adimali here, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said there are High Court judgments and clear legal provisions against "data theft".

"No individual's personal information can be shared without consent. How did the social media wing of the Chief Minister's Office obtain data from SPARK?" he asked, demanding a case and a detailed probe into the alleged breach.

He said legal steps would be initiated against those responsible.

The LoP further alleged that the government had earlier attempted to conduct a 'Navakerala survey' using DYFI activists with government funds.

He claimed that a government order sanctioning funds was issued only after a party circular was released.

According to Satheesan, the court had intervened to stop what it termed as an attempt to use taxpayers' money to finance the CPI(M)'s election campaign through DYFI workers.

He also pointed out that the government has now approached the Supreme Court in connection with the matter.

Satheesan claimed that forest officials had been instructed to visit tribal colonies to explain the achievements of the government, terming it another instance of misuse of official machinery for political purposes.

"By misusing official systems and spending crores from the public exchequer, the government is carrying out election campaigning," the leader alleged.

He warned that the misuse of departments, including the Public Relations Department (PRD), for election propaganda would be resisted both politically and legally.