Kerala ruling front and Opposition close ranks against film ‘The Kerala Story 2’

The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala have closed ranks against the upcoming film The Kerala Story 2.  The opposing political fronts have unanimously condemned the controversial movie as one that brazenly advances the Sangh Parivar’s Hindu majoritarian agenda. Both alliances accused the film of seeking to demonise Muslims as “love jihadists” who lure Hindu women into marriage with the surreptitious purpose of converting them to Islam. 

Notably, the trailer of the film shows a Hindu woman being force-fed beef by radical Islamists, setting the alarm bells ringing on social media handles. A significant number of netizens posted jeering trolls and memes, mocking the movie’s Instagram preview. 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan raised the red flag on Wednesday (February 18, 2026), urging the public to be wary of the “communally prejudiced” film’s divisive messaging. He said the producers sought to undermine Kerala’s communal amity by reinforcing the Sangh Parivar’s bigoted view of minorities, chiefly Muslims, as anti-nationals. 

Mr. Vijayan said the film sought to obfuscate Kerala’s development and social progress by portraying the State as a fertile recruitment ground for fundamentalists. He said secular Kerala, which rejected The Kerala Story, would treat its sequel with equal contempt. 

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said the film was the Sangh Parivar’s latest propaganda tool. He said the movie politicised the culinary preferences by condemning beef eaters as subaltern citizens and anti-nationals, while elevating cow worship as a marker of true nationalism.

Meanwhile, the film’s director Kamakhya Narayan Singh told television channels that the movie was not Kerala-specific. “It reiterates the existence of love jihad and forced conversion at the national level. I have relied on hundreds of newspaper cuttings that throw light on similar incidents in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The movie aims to create public awareness,” he said. 

Kerala BJP stance

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar told news reporters in New Delhi that the ruling front was slyly using the film as a political lightning rod to divert voters’ attention from serious livelihood and development issues bedevilling the Left government in the election year. He said the Opposition played second fiddle to the ruling front. 

Mr. Chandrasekhar said love jihad was a “harsh ground reality, which worried families in Kerala.” He accused Mr. Vijayan of portraying himself as the custodian of a particular community to ingratiate himself with Islamists, including the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH).  He said Mr. Vijayan used different yardsticks for different sets of people. “Mr. Vijayan did not protest when a Hamas leader (Khaled Mashal) addressed (via online) a rally (taken out by Solidarity Youth Movement) at Malappuram (in 2023).