Kochi has been embroiled in a political storm following sharp criticism from the United Democratic Front (UDF) directed at Mayor M. Anilkumar. The UDF has accused the Mayor of gravely insulting the city by failing to officially greet President Droupadi Murmu during her recent visit on Friday, October 24, 2025.
According to a statement released by the UDF parliamentary party the day after the President’s visit, it was unequivocally stated that, as the first citizen of Kochi, Mayor Anilkumar was bound by protocol to receive the President while adorned in his official gown.
UDF leaders Antony Kureethara and M.G. Aristotle condemned the Mayor’s absence, asserting that dismissing the President’s arrival merely because he lacked an invitation to an educational institution’s function was an unacceptable affront to the city. They highlighted that such conduct was highly inappropriate for someone holding a constitutional position. Given the Mayor’s known close ties with the institution in question, the UDF leaders suggested that a simple phone call could have easily averted the entire controversy, preventing what they perceive as a deliberate act of disrespect towards Kochi.
Paradoxically, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) parliamentary party and the district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) had previously issued their own condemnation. They criticized the alleged “unceremonious exclusion” of Mayor M. Anilkumar from the President’s event, arguing that it constituted a violation of democratic principles. The LDF also suggested that these repeated exclusions were politically motivated, stemming from discomfort over the Mayor’s popularity and the success of the LDF-led governing committee. The CPI(M) echoed these sentiments, labelling the exclusion as an act of political vendetta.