INL State president Ahammad Devarkovil and general secretary Kasim Irikkur say reports claiming that V.D. Satheesan has secured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s approval for the scheme during his recent visit to New Delhi amount to an attempt to mislead the public. The INL questions the relevance of Mr. Gandhi’s approval in deciding whether Keralam’s secular educational tradition should be exposed to “saffron politics”.
The Indian National League (INL) has urged “secular Keralam” to unitedly oppose Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s “sinister attempt” to implement the Union government’s controversial PM SHRI scheme in the State through the backdoor, despite opposition from various quarters.In a statement issued in Kozhikode on Tuesday (September 8, 2026), INL State president Ahammad Devarkovil and general secretary Kasim Irikkur alleged that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government was attempting to introduce the PM SHRI scheme, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government is accused of promoting to ‘saffronise’ the education sector, by citing various excuses.The leaders alleged that the scheme had been used as a major campaign issue against the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government during the last Assembly election and accused Mr. Satheesan of now trying to facilitate its implementation in Keralam in a manner favourable to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP.They also said reports claiming that Mr. Satheesan had secured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s approval for the scheme during his recent visit to New Delhi amounted to an attempt to mislead the public. The INL questioned the relevance of Mr. Gandhi’s approval in deciding whether Keralam’s secular educational tradition should be exposed to “saffron politics.”KPCC panel’s oppositionThe INL further alleged that the political affairs committee of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Keralam, Deepa Dasmunshi, had recently expressed strong opposition to PM SHRI. It claimed that Mr. Satheesan’s meeting with Mr. Gandhi and the release of a photograph of the same to the media were intended to overcome opposition within the Congress, including that of AICC general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal.It alleged that pressure from the Sangh Parivar was behind the State government’s eagerness to proceed with the scheme.The leaders said the claim that Keralam was seeking conditions, including full State control over the selection of schools under PM SHRI, was misleading, as the State itself was responsible for preparing the list of schools. Published - September 08, 2026 04:09 pm IST
