AICC general secretary alleges that CPI(M) is deviating from its professed principles by supporting the PM-SHRI scheme

The Congress has come down on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala for agreeing to join the Centre's PM-SHRI scheme, claiming that it is part of a series of compromises reached between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal told the media here on Wednesday (October 22, 2025) that covering up of an Enforcement Directorate notice on Vivek T., the son of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and deferring of the SNC-Lavalin corruption case in the Supreme Court multiple times were also part of the compromise. He was here to open 'Sit to win', a one-day camp organised for party functionaries ahead of the local body polls.

He alleged that the CPI(M) was deviating from its professed principles by supporting the PM-SHRI scheme. Mr. Venugopal refuted the allegations that Congress-led State governments had also implemented it, pointing out that it was the BJP-led government which launched it in Karnataka in 2021. Similar was the case in Telangana. The Congress would never agree with the National Education Policy through which Sangh Parivar agenda had been inserted in the syllabus for educational institutions. The Union government was of the view that the students need not learn about Mahatma Gandhi, but should study about his assassin, Nathuram Godse. "Is the ₹1,400 crore in Central funds being released a bribe to implement such a syllabus in the State? The CPI(M) should explain to the people why it is going ahead with the scheme despite opposition from the CPI," he said.

Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph demanded that the State government keep away from bowing down before the BJP's political agenda. He told the media here that funds for the country's progress should not come with conditions. These funds were sourced from the taxpayers' money. It was the right of the people to get them and there was no place for riders there. Mr. Joseph also expressed doubts if the CPI would stick to its opposition to the PM-SHRI scheme. He claimed that the discord in the LDF was evident and the Congress was not sure if the CPI was stern on its position.

Congress comes down on LDF over move to join PM-SHRI scheme