UDF accuses Kochi Mayor of insulting city by not turning up to receive President as per protocol

The United Democratic Front (UDF) has accused Mayor M. Anilkumar of insulting the city by failing to receive President Droupadi Murmu during her visit to Kochi on Friday (October 24, 2025).

In a statement issued a day after the visit, the UDF parliamentary party said that, as the first citizen of Kochi and in accordance with protocol, the Mayor should have received the President in his official gown.

Insulting the President merely because he was not invited to a function organised by an educational institution amounted to insulting the city. Holding a constitutional post, such conduct was unbecoming of the Mayor. Given his close association with the institution concerned, the issue could have been resolved with a simple phone call, but instead, it was allowed to escalate into an act that disrespected the city, said the statement issued by UDF leaders in the Corporation, Antony Kureethara and M.G. Aristotle.

On Friday, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) parliamentary party and the district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] had condemned the alleged unceremonious exclusion of Mayor M. Anilkumar from the function attended by the President.

The LDF parliamentary party stated that the exclusion of the Mayor amounted to a violation of democratic principles and alleged that such repeated actions were politically motivated, driven by discomfort over the popularity of the Mayor and the LDF-led governing committee he heads. The CPI(M) district committee also condemned the exclusion, calling it political vendetta.