Pinarayi Vijayan most popular among Hindus, Chandy leads among minorities

Even as one survey after another predict a win for the incumbent Left Front alliance in Kerala, an opinion poll conducted by the Media One news channel has thrown up some interesting figures on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s support levels among various religious communities. Pinarayi Vijayan, an atheist and a communist, is four times as […]

Muslim League suspends leader after anti-CAA protest

The Kerala Unit of Indian Union Muslim League — an ally of the Congress Party — has suspended a district-level functionary for participating in a major, state-wide anti-CAA protest on Sunday. KM Basheer, a vice president for the party’s Beypore assembly unit, has been suspended from his position after he participated in Sunday’s ‘Human Chain’ […]

Kerala to install real-time face detection system in public places

Kerala government has issued a request for proposals from artificial intelligence companies to develop a real-time mass surveillance and facial identification system to be deployed across the state. The surveillance cameras will be connected to powerful computers, and any person whose name has been entered into the system will be detected the minute he or […]

Prepoll survey predicts sweep for Congress in Kerala as Sabarimala hurts Left

One of the biggest and first pre-election surveys held in Kerala has pointed to strong gains made by the United Democratic Alliance led by the Congress, and the National Democratic Alliance led by BJP due to the Sabarimala controversy. Even as the Left Front was riding high on a wave of popularity before the Sabarimala […]

PInarayi says no devotee was offended by women’s entry

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan today said no devotee of Ayyappa feels offended by the way two women were ‘facilitated’ to enter the Sabarimala temple and that the protests being seen on the streets are politically motivated. “When news came out about entry of women into the shrine (yesterday), there was no spontaneous protests,” Vijayan […]

Sabarimala women’s entry re-opens BJP’s ‘golden chance’ in Kerala

After waiting patiently for a breakthrough, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prayers in Kerala seem to have been finally answered in the form of a crucial development in the Sabarimala temple standoff with two women entering the temple at night under police protection. The BJP has already kicked off a massive campaign to exploit the emotional […]

BJP suspends protests at Sabarimala as pilgrims stay away

The Kerala unit of the BJP has decided to suspend its ongoing protests and demonstrations at Sabarimala temple, even as these seem to have resulted in an unusual decline in the number of pilgrims who undertook the annual pilgrimage this year. As part of the decision, Yuva Morcha, the youth front of the BJP, canceled […]

Kerala minister sees Sangh ploy behind Trupti Desai’s visit

Kadakampally Surendran, the Kerala minister in charge of Devaswom affairs, called the move by Hindu groups to confine Trupti Desai to the Cochin Airport ‘barbaric’ and wondered if it was part of a conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar. He said Desai is close to both the BJP and the Congress in Maharashtra, and that it […]

BJP, Congress score self-goals in Kerala Chengannur bye-election

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress Party in Kerala have reason to worry from the results of Chengannur bye-election conducted on Sunday. With nearly all votes in — including those from areas considered strongholds of Congress and BJP — the Left Front candidate Saji Cherian was comfortably in the lead. The vote share […]

VENGARA Election Results: Left Front vote up 20%, Cong, BJP down

The results of the bypoll held in Vengara assembly constituency in Kerala have confirmed the Congress-led UDF’s worries about losing support in the southern state. The results also showed that the BJP suffered a decline in popularity in Kerala in the last 18 months or so. The election, which comes a year-and-a-half after the last […]

CPIM activists attacked for arranging Hindu-Muslim marriage in Kerala

Tensions are on the rise between the ruling CPI-M and the Social Democratic Party of India in Ambalapuzha in Kerala after Left activists were attacked, allegedly for arranging the wedding of a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl. The SDPI is second only to the Indian Union Muslim League in terms of its vote-share and […]