After the much-hyped ‘Nava Kerala Sadas’ turned out to be a colossal failure despite burning crores from the exchequer, the Pinarayi Vijayan–led CPI(M) government is once again scrambling to mend its damaged public image. Instead of addressing the state’s worsening financial crisis and administrative failures, the government has chosen to hide behind a new public relations gimmick. A system grandly titled “C.M. With Me” is being rolled out, projected as a direct link between the Chief Minister and the people. In reality, this initiative reeks of yet another desperate attempt to woo voters ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Lavishly funded with taxpayer money and additional allocations, it is little more than a facade designed to mask corruption, inefficiency, and misgovernance.
A costly new PR experiment
The so-called ‘C.M. With Me’ is being projected as a comprehensive ‘Citizen Connect Center’ that will operate almost round the clock. The government claims that the public can reach the administration through a toll-free number to access information about government schemes, welfare benefits, and even the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. On the surface, this may sound like a modern outreach initiative, but the deeper reality is that crores of public money are being drained to sustain it.
The cabinet has already sanctioned an additional Rs 20 crore to the Information & Public Relations Department. This amount will be spent not on development works but on publicity, creating glossy content, building narratives, and projecting the government as responsive. The stated objectives include “bringing government schemes to the people, gathering their opinions, and providing feedback,” but in practice, it is another propaganda machinery financed by the people of Kerala themselves. Officers from various departments, including KAS and IAS, will be pulled into the project. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), notorious for unchecked borrowing and opaque practices, will be tasked with providing technical and infrastructural support. The Citizen Connect Center will be set up on land acquired from Air India at Vellayambalam in Thiruvananthapuram district. This elaborate machinery is not about governance—it is about polishing the image of a failing government that has already lost the trust of the people in the Lok Sabha polls.
A pre- local body election ploy
With local body elections fast approaching later this year, ‘C.M. With Me’ is clearly intended to function as a political tool. Officials will answer calls, direct complaints to relevant departments, and then call back the citizens with follow-up information. While this is advertised as a step toward participatory democracy, it is in fact a sophisticated election strategy masquerading as citizen service. KIIFB, which already shoulders the burden of debt-driven projects, is once again being dragged in to bankroll the infrastructure and human resources. Government employees, including KAS officers, will be redeployed on a working arrangement basis. IAS officers will be tasked with supervision. The Chief Secretary has been ordered to issue directions for redeployment and ensure the project’s functioning. In effect, this is a colossal redirection of administrative resources, not for addressing Kerala’s financial mess, rising unemployment, or agrarian crisis, but for running a political PR project aimed at salvaging the image of the CPI(M) before Local body election in 2025 and assembly poll in 2026.
Forcing local bodies to foot the bill
While crores are being sanctioned for PR, the government has devised yet another scheme to drain funds from local self-governments. In preparation for the local body elections, the government has decided to hold so-called ‘development meetings’ in every panchayat, municipality, and corporation from September 20 to October 20. The shocking part is that the government has washed its hands of the costs. It has instructed that local bodies themselves must finance these programs, using their own plan funds or other resources. Gram panchayats are expected to spend Rs 2 lakh each, municipalities Rs 4 lakh, and corporations Rs 6 lakh. If these funds fall short, the order explicitly permits raising money through ‘sponsorships.’ This opens the door wide for corruption. Sponsorship has already been the backdoor channel through which crores flowed during the ‘Keraliyam program’ and ‘Nava Kerala Sadas’. Till today, the government has not disclosed who the mysterious sponsors were or what quid pro quo arrangements were struck. Opposition parties rightly allege that this is nothing but legalized corruption, a way to funnel money into government propaganda using local bodies as collection agents.
Repeating past mistakes and extravagance amid economic crisis
The government has not learned a single lesson from the ‘Nava Kerala Sadas’. Despite spending heavily on buses, logistics, and elaborate arrangements, the exercise failed to energize the public. The CPI(M) suffered major setbacks in the Lok Sabha polls that followed, proving that citizens are no longer swayed by hollow roadshows. Yet the Chief Minister and his team continue to waste crores. The Nava Kerala Sadas included a custom-built bus worth Rs 2 crore, which became a symbol of the government’s extravagance. Now, the same reckless pattern is being repeated. The plan for development conferences even includes 20-minute video presentations showcasing the so-called achievements of the government. In reality, these are nothing more than campaign films produced with public money.
What makes this spending spree even more scandalous is the backdrop of Kerala’s worsening economic crisis. Salaries and pensions are being delayed, development funds are shrinking, and the state is drowning in debt. Yet the government continues to prioritize vanity projects and luxury renovations. The most glaring example is the spending spree on government buildings. Recently, Rs 7.5 crore was blown on renovating the roof of the Legislative Assembly building. At a time when flood-hit citizens are struggling to rebuild their homes, the ruling party chose to pour money into cosmetic renovations.
Even more outrageous is the money spent on Cliff House, the Chief Minister’s official residence. Since Pinarayi Vijayan’s second government took charge in 2021, nearly Rs 4 crore has already been spent on 14 different renovation works. This includes upgrades to lifts, kitchens, toilets, bathrooms, offices, and restrooms. A staggering Rs 12 lakh was spent just on painting. The Tourism Department, which manages ministerial residences, has also executed additional works worth Rs 2 crore at Cliff House. This includes maintenance of the swimming pool, garden, and other facilities. Such profligate spending on the Chief Minister’s comforts stands in stark contrast to the state’s financial situation.
Even a dung pit was reportedly constructed at a cost higher than what the government spends to build a ‘Life Mission’ house for a poor family. This grotesque mismatch illustrates the warped priorities of a regime obsessed with its own comfort and publicity while ordinary citizens suffer.
Corruption, failure, and cover-ups
All these moves, the launch of ‘C.M. With Me,’ the development meetings, the PR allocations, the renovations, are not about governance. They are about buying time, creating a glossy narrative, and distracting the public from the failures of the communist government.
From corruption scandals in Life Mission to mismanagement of flood relief, from unemployment to a collapsing agrarian economy, the Vijayan government has failed on every front. Instead of confronting these challenges, it has chosen to pour crores into PR gimmicks, hoping to cover its tracks with propaganda films, call centers, and photo-op conferences. As the 2026 elections approach, the CPI(M) is desperately trying to script a new story. Yet what emerges is the unmistakable picture of a government drowning in corruption, obsessed with luxury, and hopelessly cut off from the struggles of ordinary Keralites.
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