Congress-led UDF (United Democratic Front) today (Dec 13) lodged a complaint with the state election commission (SEC) against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s announcement that Covid-19 vaccine will be distributed free of cost for all citizens of the state during at a press conference on Saturday, Mathrubhumi reported.

Deputy leader of Kerala Congress Legislature Party K C Joseph filed a complaint with the SEC.

Terming the announcement a clear violation of the model code of conduct that is in force in the state in connection with the local body polls, UDF accused the CM of influencing the electorate by making the promise in the middle of the multi-phase local body polls.

The first two phases of the local body polls have been held in the state, and a third phase is scheduled on Dec 16. Vijayan’s announcement on a free vaccine has triggered a controversy on whether this could amount to a breach of the model code of conduct.

COVID-19 vaccine will be made available free of cost to all people in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday.

“No one will be charged for the vaccine. This is the stand of the government,” he told reporters at Kannur. Kannur goes to poll in the third phase of the Kerala local body polls.

Vijayan said the quantity of the vaccine that would be allotted to the state by the Centre was not yet known.

Few other States, including Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, have already made a similar announcement.

On Saturday, Kerala reported 5,949 new cases of the virus out of 59,690 samples tested, taking the cumulative caseload to 6,64,632 cases. The state has among the highest active cases among Southern states and has faced severe criticism for poor levels of testing.