Nilambur: The battle over Kerala’s welfare pension, a lifeline for more than 60 lakh people in the state, flared up on Sunday, June 15, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra clashed over its legacy and timing of payments.

Addressing an election rally in Pothukallu earlier in the day, Pinarayi delivered a detailed account of the pension's 45-year journey, positioning the Left Democratic Front (LDF) as its architect and long-time defender. He also accused successive Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) governments of neglecting the scheme, and claimed that senior Congress leader K Karunakaran had opposed it when it was first introduced in 1980.

Later that evening, at a corner meeting in Nilambur town, Priyanka Gandhi hit back. She accused the LDF government of "politicising" the scheme by timing disbursals to coincide with elections. "The government has to pay ₹1,600 as welfare pension to 62 lakh people in the state. But this pension is being politicised," she said. "It must be given on time, not when it suits the government or coincides with election time. People depend on this pension."

The exchange capped a two-week war of words between the two fronts that began on June 2, when Congress national general secretary K C Venugopal kicked off the UDF campaign in Nilambur by accusing the LDF of "bribing voters" with pension payments on the eve of elections. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan backed Venugopal's remarks, prompting a sharp counteroffensive from the Left.

The LDF pounced on the "bribe" charge, and went to town alleging that the UDF was insulting lakhs of beneficiaries by painting them as complicit in vote buying. They are accusing 65 lakh beneficiaries of being bribe-takers, said LDF leaders, including CPM candidate M Swaraj.

Vijayan told the crowd at Pothukallu that he was not surprised by the Congress's allegation. "This is the Congress mindset. But we are not surprised. It did not endorse the pension when it was first launched in 1980," he said and went on to list the history of the welfare pension.

The pension was first introduced by E K Nayanar in 1980 at ₹45 for farmers above the age of 60, he said. "Congress leader K Karunakaran opposed it then. It was the Congress's stance too," Vijayan said.

When Karunakaran returned to power in 1982 and again in 1991, he left the welfare pension untouched. In contrast, Nayanar raised it to ₹60 from ₹45 in 1987, and to ₹120 in 1996.

In 2001, the A K Antony's Congress did not increase the pension but left a 28-month arrear at the end of the term, Vijayan said.

The V S Achuthanandan government in 2006 cleared the arrears and increased the pension to ₹500, the Chief Minister said.

Oommen Chandy, who came to power in 2011, increased the pension by ₹100 to ₹600. "But that remained on paper," Vijayan said, and repeated the allegation that Chandy's government did not disburse pensions for the last 18 months of his tenure.

When the LDF government returned to power in 2016, Pinarayi Vijayan said it cleared the dues and increased the pension to ₹1,600. Swaraj said the LDF would increase it to ₹2,600 at an appropriate time.

Congress leaders have contested the narrative. According to official records released by the LDF government itself, the arrears left behind by the UDF in 2016 amounted to just three months, not 18. The delay, they said, was caused by a technical glitch, not wilful neglect.

However, several elderly LDF voters Onmanorama spoke to in Nilambur said they feared the UDF would either halt or dilute the pension scheme if it returned to power, a testimony to the LDF's powerful propaganda on the ground.

To be sure, the Congress had only criticised the timing of the disbursal and never said it would stop the pension.

But what is clear is that the UDF and the LDF see the welfare pension not merely as policy, but as political currency, one that could tip the balance in a constituency.