Kerala floods: Vijayan accuses UDF of 'uncaring' response over rescue worker's body

Kerala has been battling heavy rains and flooding for over a week, with multiple districts affected. Amid this crisis, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday (August 8, 2026) accused the United Democratic Front (UDF) government of an 'uncaring response' to flood-affected people, citing the handling of a rescue volunteer's body as an example.

The body of R. Rajesh, a 36-year-old rescue volunteer, had decomposed while being transported from Cherupuzha in Kannur to his family home in Thiruvananthapuram. Vijayan alleged that the government failed to arrange an ambulance equipped with a mobile freezer, showing disrespect to a man who sacrificed his life to save others from floodwaters.

"Emergency workers took three days to locate Rajesh's body. The decomposition had set in by then. Any humane administration would have followed the basic protocol to embalm the body and ensure a dignified transport to Rajesh's family home," Vijayan said. He added that the government's unconcern further traumatised the bereaved family.

Vijayan also highlighted the delayed rescue of fishermen who went missing in stormy seas at Neendakara in Kollam and at Anchuthengu and Pulluvila near Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram. He said the delays showed the government's apathy towards the coastal population. "The Fisheries Minister has not visited the affected people," he noted.

"The bereaved families are up in arms against the government for its passiveness in coordinating search operations, including the commandeering of speed boats and helicopters. The coastal community's indignation is evident in the continuing protests. The families are yet to get emotional closure," Vijayan said.

The former Chief Minister also asserted that the floods had caught the government unprepared. No weather warning was issued, and no measures were taken to mitigate the climate change-spurred extreme weather event that devastated Kerala's coastline and other areas.

He pointed to the collapse of a large mound of excavated mud at the entrance of the twin tunnel project as an example of the government's botched disaster prediction and management. "The government could have saved lives if it had heeded the weather warning and removed the precariously heaped mud from the spot in advance," he argued.

Vijayan accused the UDF government of indulging in "divisive politics" during the crisis, noting that opposition legislators, including CPI(M) legislator U. Jenish Kumar from Pathanamthitta, were disinvited from flood crisis management meetings. "The UDF failed to resurrect the mass voluntary involvement that helped Kerala survive the catastrophic floods in 2018 and 2019 and the Wayanad landslide," he said.

He further claimed that thousands of residents accommodated in hundreds of relief camps across the state lacked basic bed and board facilities. Hot food, doctors, and medical attention were also missing, he said. "Ministers have avoided relief camps fearing public wrath," he alleged.