The alleged preventing of United Democratic Front candidate in the Palakkad Assembly constituency, Ramesh Pisharody, from entering a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BP) in the constituency for campaigning has led to widespread condemnation, including from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.The incident occurred late on Wednesday evening, when women workers of the BJP allegedly blocked Mr. Pisharody during his campaign tour in the Vadakkanthara area.The protesting women were allegedly led by a BJP councillor of the Palakkad municipal council.Visuals aired by news channels showed the activists raising slogans against Congress leaders.Mr. Pisharody described the act as “undemocratic.” Condemning the incident, the Chief Minister said: “We should not underestimate the BJP. Haven’t we now seen the nature of its intolerance? Don’t all candidates campaign during elections? Didn’t they block the UDF candidate Mr. Pisharody in Palakkad?”Addressing an election event of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], the veteran leader said: “What the BJP shows elsewhere, a sample of that has now been seen in Palakkad. That is what we should recognise. We have no difference of opinion on that.”While stating that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is strongly opposed to the Congress and the UDF, Mr. Vijayan said that in a democratic system, democratic values should be upheld.“Everyone has the right to campaign during elections. We do not agree with denying that right, and we strongly condemn it,” he said.“What we saw there was also a kind of helplessness on the part of the Congress. It is a warning of how dangerous it could be if a force like the BJP takes root in our State. We should not ignore that,” he added.Reacting to the incident, National Democratic Alliance candidate and BJP leader Sobha Surendran said that Mr. Pisharody was stopped following his alleged anti-women remarks.She claimed that Mr. Pisharody had said incidents of violence against women were a personal matter, which she said was unacceptable.Ms. Surendran further alleged that the UDF candidate’s stance was supportive of offenders, which led to protests by women who stopped him. She demanded that Mr. Pisharody apologise for his remarks.She also questioned why the police had not arrested Congress councillor Prashobh, who is facing a sexual assault case in Palakkad, adding that a complaint had been filed against him with the National Commission for Women.Published - April 02, 2026 10:00 pm IST