Thiruvananthapuram: Ramesh Chennithala, the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, has flayed the prejudicial and unilateral actions of the media in the run-up to the state polls. He also decried the biased pre-poll surveys as attempts to sway the electorate and harm the prospects of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
Chennithala also suspected ulterior motives in the media's apparent efforts to portray him in a bad light.
Earlier too the opposition leader had slammed the media for publishing back-to-back pre-poll surveys that suggested the ruling Left Democratic Front led by the CPM will have smooth sailing in next month's state polls.
Often in public meetings, the opposition leader describes the surveys being carried out by agencies from outside the state as part of a conspiracy to upstage people's opinion. He reminds the audience about the surveys that had gone horribly wrong in the past.
"Nobody needs to feel dejected with the pre-poll survey results as the surveys were carried out as per the script handed out by the AKG Centre (the CPM headquarters). The people's survey is in favour of the UDF,” he had said recently.
Chennithala had earlier alleged that the tactics used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rein in the media by using the corporates and spending crores of rupees are being adopted by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala in an effort to retain power.
He also claimed money power is helping the CPM and the BJP to carry out a vigorous poll campaign.