Responding to the remarks while addressing the media in Kannur on Tuesday, Vijayan said, “Revanth Reddy is the Chief Minister of a state. There are certain standards of conduct and dignity expected from someone in that position. He should reflect on whether he has behaved in accordance with that dignity. I will respond publicly to what he has said, but I am not going into that now. For now, all I have to say is, ‘dash mone Revanthe.’”

Since the phrase “dash mone” is considered insulting in Kerala’s parlance, Vijayan’s remarks triggered widespread protests from the Opposition Congress. “Vijayan has contributed many such words to Malayalam — calling a bishop a ‘despicable creature’ and referring to RSP leader N K Premachandran as ‘par nari’ (scoundrel). I wanted to tell Reddy about Vijayan. If Vijayan had lost his mental balance further, he would have filled in that dash. Then Kerala would have had to bow its head in shame,” said Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan.

The CPI(M) has centered its campaign on highlighting the LDF government’s decade-long development record, with Vijayan as the face of the alliance. A third consecutive victory is crucial for the party’s survival at the national level, as Kerala is the only state in the country currently ruled by the Left.

For the Congress, the election is a do-or-die battle. The BJP-led NDA also has high stakes in around a dozen Assembly constituencies and hopes to win more than one seat. In the 2016 elections, the BJP secured its first-ever Assembly victory in the state from Nemom, a seat it lost to the CPI(M) in 2021.

Prominent leaders in the fray include Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues; Congress state president Sunny Joseph; Satheesan; former Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala; BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar; former BJP state presidents K. Surendran, P K Krishnadas, V Muraleedharan, and Kummanam Rajasekharan; and Union Minister George Kurian.

All 140 seats will go to the polls in a single phase.