'Kerala CM's promise of free Covid vaccine is violation of election code of conduct': UDF

Ahead of the final phase of Kerala local body elections, the opposition UDF has filed a complaint with the state's Election Commission against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleging violation of the election code of conduct. Congress leader KC Joseph said that the Chief Minister while announcing free COVID-19 vaccine for the people of the state violated the model code of conduct. Reacting to Pinarayi's statement, KC Joseph has filed a complaint with the State Election Commissioner V Bhaskaran.

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Pinarayi Vijayan promises free COVID-19 vaccine

While speaking to reporters at Kannur, Kerala CM Vijayan on Saturday said that Coronavirus vaccine will be made available free of cost to all people of the state. He said, "No one will be charged for the vaccine and this is the government." Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh have earlier made a similar announcement. Meanwhile, the Centre on Tuesday said three COVID-19 vaccines, developed by Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute of India and Pfizer, are under active consideration of India's drug regulator and there is hope that early licensure is possible for all or any of them.

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Kerala local body elections

According to the State Election Commission, Kerala on December 10 recorded 76.38 per cent voter turn out in the 2nd phase of local body elections which were held in 5 districts. In the first phase of Kerala local body polls held in five districts on December 8, 72.67 per cent voter turnout was recorded.

In a three-corned fight between Left Democratic Front (LDF), United Democratic Front (UDF) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the local body elections are seen as a pointer to the assembly elections scheduled in May. Local body polls are being held in three phases in Kerala, the final phase is on December 14. The votes will be counted on December 16.

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Kerala's COVID-19 outbreak

As the world continues to grapple against the Coronavirus pandemic, Kerala so far has recorded over 6,64,632 positive cases, out of which 6,01,861 have successfully recovered while 2,594 succumbed to the infection. As per the latest reports by MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 5,949 new cases, 5,268 fresh recoveries and 32 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the state is 60,177. 

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(With ANI inputs)