Countering Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s allegation that the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) had appointed 787 personal staff, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said the claim was factually incorrect.He said it was highly inappropriate for the Chief Minister to misrepresent matters for which clear records existed. Mr. Vijayan demanded that the Chief Minister disclose the list of 787 individuals.“In the previous Cabinet, the Chief Minister had a personal staff of 32, while other Ministers had 25 or fewer. Over the five-year period, four Ministers (M.V. Govindan, K. Radhakrishnan, Ahmed Devarkovil and Antony Raju) were replaced by new Ministers and Saji Cherian resigned and subsequently resumed office. Yet, the total staff strength was not increased. The total number of personal staff members remained below 500. Given that precise records exist for all of this, where did the Chief Minister obtain the figure of 787? The Chief Minister should publish that list,” he said. Published - September 10, 2026 08:50 pm IST