It's not the first time that the BJP has assumed credit for development in Kerala. Yet, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Kochi on Wednesday to launch NH projects, almost in a jiffy, the CPM was rattled.

The displeasure was over the absence of PWD Minister Mohammed Riyas. The reaction was so bitter that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and two ministers who were invited to the event didn't turn up. CPM retorted with parallel events, road shows and some sharp statements.

Not even the most vitriolic remarks by Modi related to development have riled CPM like BJP's 'Viksit Kerala' campaign does now. The cabinet also decided to forfeit its share in GST of construction materials and royalty while promoting Vizhinjam outer ring road. In 2016, when Modi blurted out during an election rally that Kerala's infant mortality rate was worse than Somalia, it was left to the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to seek a public apology from Modi.

While CPM cadres fanned the ceaseless troll fest targeting Modi, the party was also guilty of a similar remark by veteran Communist leader V S Achuthanandan. In 2013, during his visit to Attapadi in the wake of child deaths, he had torn into the UDF government for letting 'Somalia-like' conditions thrive.

In 2017, during the Kochi Metro's inaugural run, then BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan found himself seated beside invited dignitaries. Suddenly, Kummanam was marooned by a torrent of trolls. Even then, CPM was less concerned over BJP's curious ways of claiming stake for development than raising a row over security and protocol breach.

After deflating losses in Lok Sabha elections, assembly bypolls and local body elections, CPM can ill-afford BJP running away with the trophy of development. It was the same 'Viksit Kerala' campaign that swayed the voters in Thiruvananthapuram city corporation in the 2025 LSG elections in Kerala.

BJP didn't dally with Hindutva and courted development, forcing city residents to change the way they voted for four decades. The evident returns from centre's flagship schemes like the Smart city project and the AMRUT 1 & 2 were endorsed and further pitched with Modi's guarantee. The PM also rubbed salt to the wound by recounting BJP's victories in Thrissur Lok Sabha seat and in Thiruvananthapuram corporation in his speech on Wednesday.

Signs are clear that CPM is still hurting from Thiruvananthapuram. It fears that if BJP's promise of development could change voting pattern in a city which has been faithful to the party for decades, there could be a ripple effect across the state as well.

The party realises that there are smears on the secular outfit it has worn with pride and development is the most possible way to smoothen the creases. CPM's persistent attempts to demonise Jamaat-e-Islami so as to please a section of the Hindus had boomeranged. The party has chosen to keep at it only with the claims that it's unmatched credentials of doling out welfare and development could neutralise a revamped UDF. An Onmanorama survey also showed people prefer to vote for development. The PRD recently ran a cheeky, full-page advertisement in dailies, portending a doom-stricken Kerala where development would halt if the UDF came to power.

BJP's exclusion of Riyas would irk CPM, because he has been the most active campaigner of NH development in state. His social media pages flaunt a flurry of tastefully-shot aerial videos of roads snaking along various stretches in Kerala. Cutting him out from the event in a way means discrediting a Kerala Minister's claims over NH development.

CPM's push for development has also come at a price. The government offered to bear 25% of land acquisition cost to revive the NH development project in Kerala. An amount of ₹5580.73 crore was given as state share from the KIIFB for land acquisition. The cabinet also decided to take up its share in GST of construction materials and royalty as state's liability while promoting Vizhinjam outer ring road. Besides, the state has incurred liability to the tune of nearly ₹2400 crore in various projects.

The CPM had always soured on the BJP over matters of development. When the centre demanded that its share of viability gap funding (VGF) be repaid with interest, Pinarayi Vijayan had termed it as bizzare and held the stipulation as yet another demonstration of the BJP-led centre's indifference towards Kerala. The state also questioned the centre's insistence on placing the PMAY housing scheme logo on houses built through LIFE mission.

Political scientist G Gopakumar said that CPM should put up a more mature face."This tactic of vying for credit may not resonate with voters. It will only appeal to the cadres. CPM should act more maturely to BJP's ploys," he said.