Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday accused his political opponents of running a campaign of "false propaganda" against his government.
He cited a string of controversies, ranging from vice chancellors attending an event addressed by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to issues related to appointments, welfare schemes and environmental matters.
Addressing a press conference after chairing the Cabinet meeting, Satheesan said his government had faced "several misleading campaigns" even before completing a month in office.
"Now let me come to a series of what I consider rather interesting issues," he said.
Referring to the row over vice chancellors of three universities in Kerala attending an event addressed by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on June 13, Satheesan said he had publicly criticised their participation from the outset.
"I said it was wrong and inappropriate for vice chancellors to attend a programme organised by an important affiliate of the Sangh Parivar," he said.
The CM, however, alleged that the opposition was adopting double standards on the issue. "When Pinarayi Vijayan himself was chief minister, four vice chancellors in Kerala attended RSS programmes. At that time, he never even said it was wrong," Satheesan said, referring to the Leader of the Opposition.
Satheesan further claimed that the then higher education minister had defended the participation of vice chancellors in such events, saying there was "nothing wrong" with it.
Despite that history, Satheesan said there was now a campaign demanding action against the vice chancellors.
"Everyone knows the limits of the government's legal powers in such matters. This, in my view, is an example of false propaganda," he said.
Satheesan's remarks appeared to be a response to Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan's allegation that neither the CM nor ministers, nor constituent parties of the ruling front-including the Congress and the Muslim League-had reacted to the issue of the vice chancellors' attendance at the event addressed by Bhagwat.
"The UDF leadership and the state government must explain why they are hesitant to oppose the BJP and the Sangh Parivar," Vijayan had said.
Vice chancellors of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi and Malayalam universities attended the RSS centenary celebrations held in Thiruvananthapuram on June 13.
The CM dismissed allegations that a person accused of cultivating cannabis had been appointed to the home minister's personal staff.
"That allegation is completely false. No such person has ever been appointed to the staff - not now, not in the past, not at any time," he said, adding that such appointments required his approval and that "no such proposal was ever submitted to me." Satheesan rejected claims surrounding the KSRTC free travel scheme for women, saying reports that ordinary buses had been converted into city buses to implement the programme were baseless.
"In reality, not a single ordinary bus was converted into a city bus," he said, adding that passenger numbers had increased rather than declined after the scheme's introduction.
He similarly denied accusations that his government had increased fees at cooperative institutions, saying those revisions had been approved by the previous administration before his government assumed office.
On eco-sensitive zones in Idukki district, Satheesan said his government had not initiated any fresh proposal with the Centre.
According to him, the reports and proposals that led to the draft notifications had already been submitted by the previous government between 2021 and 2025, including updated proposals sought by the union government.
"The present government, after assuming office, did not initiate those proposals or send any fresh communication to the Central government regarding them," he said.
Satheesan maintained that misleading narratives were being circulated against his administration-among them, claims that ration supplies had been stalled in the state-and insisted the facts did not support those allegations.
He also alleged that the previous Left government had orchestrated a false propaganda campaign against the then opposition, led by him, with the assistance of officials from the state's Public Relations Department (PRD).
