The Indian National Congress-led I.N.D.I. Alliance has announced the “Chalo Dilli” march at Ramlila Maidan on 1st November to protest alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan is also going to participate in the opposition program, informing that he would join it to purportedly “stand with lakhs of citizens in defence of democracy, the Constitution, and the right to vote.” He added, “This is not just a protest. It is a firm declaration that we will not remain silent when democracy is under threat.”
#ChaloDilli ✊ India is calling. Tomorrow, I will be at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi to stand with lakhs of citizens in defence of democracy, the Constitution, and the right to vote. This is not just a protest. It is a firm declaration that we will not remain silent when democracy is under threat. Chalo Dilli. November 1. Ramlila Maidan. @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @kharge @INCIndia @INCKerala #VDSatheesan #INDIABloc
— V D Satheesan (@vdsatheesan) October 31, 2026
While Satheesan is planning to attend the gathering to “save democracy,” people in his own state are being slapped with cases for raising legitimate demands. The matter is related to the consistent demonstration of Lower Primary School Teachers (LPST) rank holders in Thiruvananthapuram. They are yet to obtain formal appointment orders despite passing the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) screening procedure and appearing on the May 2025 rank list.
Their protest has already entered its 117th day, while the associated hunger strike is on its 5th day. However, instead of addressing their grievances, a case has been registered against 8 identified individuals and 50 others for holding an agitation near the Secretariat’s main gate. S Valarmathi, secretary of the All Kerala LPST Rank Holders Association, has been named as the first accused.
On 26th October, she had tonsured her head and pronounced an indefinite fast after Satheesan addressed the issue in the assembly, not to resolve their complaints but to make a political dig. He remarked that those who had not even bothered to take notice of people protesting outside the Secretariat for the past five years were going around with photographs of a shaved head.
Valarmathi had asked the government about measures it had implemented. “We will not back down from our demand to reduce the student-teacher ratio in classrooms,” she maintained and highlighted the hypocrisy by adding that those who are currently making such comments had supported the protests by Public Service Commission (PSC) rank holders when they were in the opposition.
The candidates had already warned they would organise a hunger strike and remove their hair if the government did not make a favourable decision. However, their appeals fell on deaf ears, after which they stepped up their efforts.
Their principal demands are to guarantee immediate and legal appointments for individuals on the PSC rank list, revise the critical student-teacher ratio to 1:25 from 1:30, postpone fresh notifications until everyone on the existing list is inducted and transfer aided school recruitments to the PSC to prevent any corruption-based procedures.
Congress government remains indifferent as protests continue
Valarmathi’s symbolic act of sacrifice came amid continuous accusations that the government had shown nothing but gross neglect towards them. She recently called out Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader N Samsudheen, who is serving as the Minister for General Education and Minority Welfare of Kerala. She outlined that he insisted there is a “financial crisis and is not willing to reduce the student-teacher ratio,” emphasising that the objective is to protect teachers and their jobs.
She asserted to have the details “on the number of existing vacancies, but the minister told the assembly that the data was still being collected. If that is the case, what exactly has the government studied about our issue? Who conducted the study, and who were the members of the committee? The government must release those records.”
All Kerala Lower Primary School Teacher (LPST) Rank Holders’ Association secretary Valarmathi S says, "The Minister keeps repeating that the government is facing a financial crisis and is not willing to reduce the student-teacher ratio. We are demanding a reduction to protect teachers and their jobs. We have the data on the number of existing vacancies, but the Minister told the Assembly that the data was still being collected. If that is the case, what exactly has the government studied about our issue? Who conducted the study, and who were the members of the committee? The government must release those records. You asked for 45 days only to mislead us. We are protesting because we want justice. Those sitting here have worked hard, cleared the examinations and secured places on the rank list. Please do not keep repeating false claims. The government had promised to reduce the HSA student-teacher ratio to 1:40. How were you able to make that reduction? You are not even clearly stating how many divisions have been lost. Everything is being kept under wraps, and the only response we get is that any decision would create a financial burden. The government must first appoint candidates from the existing rank lists. After that, it can go ahead with appointments through other routes. The current system gives the impression that jobs can be secured by paying money. That system must change. We have no other option. It was only after our protest had entered its 13th day that the government said our demands would be considered sympathetically. But what action has it taken since then? There is no need to invite us for further discussions. We need a decision, not more assurances. We will continue our protest, even if it takes a death for the government to finally make a decision."
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2026
Valarmathi lashed out, “You asked for 45 days only to mislead us. We are protesting because we want justice. Those sitting here have worked hard, cleared the examinations and secured places on the rank list. Please do not keep repeating false claims.”
She pointed out that the government had promised to change the student-teacher ratio to 1:40 and questioned how it had arrived at that figure, pointing out, “You are not even clearly stating how many divisions have been lost. Everything is being kept under wraps, and the only response we get is that any decision would create a financial burden.”
Valarmathi underlined that the government must first hire people from the existing rank lists before proceeding with admissions via other means. “The current system gives the impression that jobs can be secured by paying money. That system must change,” she pressed.
“We have no other option. It was only after our protest had entered its 13th day that the government said our demands would be considered sympathetically. But what action has it taken since then? There is no need to invite us for further discussions. We need a decision, not more assurances. We will continue our protest, even if it takes a death for the government to finally make a decision,” she declared.
Valarmathi earlier charged that Samsudheen’s plea for 45 days to settle the dispute was a ruse to put an end to the strike. She suspected that bribes might have been distributed to officials, including the chief minister. However, she was determined that they would be chosen on their credentials earned through education. The protesters also revealed that they could seek to meet Satheesan again and vowed to embark on a hunger strike until death if they are denied justice.
No support from Abhijit Dipke to Prakash Raj: The deafening silence of self-proclaimed champions of people’s rights
The demonstrators indicated that they have effectively been left to fend for themselves, with no support for their crucial fight, recounting, “We were running from one minister to another till some days ago. The same leaders who expressed solidarity with us when in opposition are now avoiding or ignoring us,” reported The New Indian Express.
Additionally, it was unveiled that the United Democratic Front (UDF) government headed by Congress had verbally agreed to grant four requests: lowering the student-teacher ratio to 1:25, putting off the new notification, extending the rank-list period, and bringing head teacher vacancies under the purview of the PSC. However, the protesters found out that no action had been taken.
The centre of the problem revolves around the loss of teaching positions when school divisions are consolidated to cater to the 1:30 student-teacher ratio. Valarmathi stated, “The teachers who are flushed out in this exercise are accommodated in retirement vacancies, depriving us of a chance to be appointed. There were around 600 such division-fall adjustments made last year.”
She added that the ratio can be modified to fit the state’s needs, similar to high schools. According to those on the rank list, they delivered thorough reports on open positions and reform recommendations to the government, but with no success.
The protesters also noted that they do not receive any help and have to pool their own money to sustain the agitation. They conveyed that some PSC coaching facilities used to offer them food, but at present they either prepare kanji by the roadside or make other local arrangements to feed themselves.
Interestingly, they also noticed the conspicuous absence of andolanjeevis or career agitators, recognising that their movement has received little attention because it is rooted in a genuine cause and has no agenda or affiliations with any party or outfit.
“No one noticed us till now. We wonder where the activists – like Ranjini Haridas – are. Where are the rappers? Where are the likes of Tovino Thomas, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Ashiq Abu and Reema Kallingal? Where were the writers and intellectuals? The systemic rot linked to PSC placements is out there for everyone to see, right,” the attendees enquired.
They also shared, “Many among us even tagged Abhijit Dipke of CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) in our protest pictures. We also commented on their social media posts, drawing their attention to our agitation. Even when actor Prakash Raj visited Manaveeyam Veedhi, we requested him to visit our protest venue. But no one even bothered.”
The account sheds light on the selective nature of those who claim to champion people’s causes, especially those concerning the country’s youth and students, but are conveniently silent when the subject does not serve their political interests. Furthermore, neither the former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition, Pinarayi Vijayan, nor officials at the Secretariat met Valarmathi despite her exhausting attempt.
Conclusion
Rahul Gandhi, Satheesan and the Congress leadership have regularly urged the young people to become a part of their political campaigns. The Gandhi scion even launched “Chhatron Ki Goonj” (Voice of Students), supposedly to flag concerns over shortcomings in the Indian education system.
However, it appears that the opposition and its ecosystem are deeply concerned about their future only when the state is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This duplicity has surfaced time and again and was also equally evident in Jharkhand, where protests against the I.N.D.I. bloc government were similarly ignored.
The challenges faced by the youth, it seems, deserve focus only depending on the region and the political ideology, and when the rhetoric is put to the test, it tells a different story. The protesters in Kerala even ate grass to underline their desperate conditions, as many women left their families and homes to struggle for their valid demands, only to see their pleas go unanswered.
This is the reality of the Indian opposition’s activism, which pretends to “save democracy,” but where equality is determined by political preferences rather than treated as a basic tenet. Borrowing from William Shakespeare’s famous line, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say, “Hypocrisy, thy name is the Indian opposition.”
