The year 2025 saw major developments in Kerala, from the UDF victory in the local body elections after a decade-long wait to the trial court’s acquittal of Malayalam actor Dileep in the 2017 actor kidnapping and assault case and the controversies related to the Sabarimala Sri Dharma Sanstha temple.
During this period the state made national headlines by becoming the first state in the country to become a fully digitally literate state and free from extreme poverty.
Although not all of these developments were game-changers, a few deserve a closer look:
9 January:Iconic singer P. Jayachandran passes awaymarking the end of a Era of soulful tunes in different languages
21 February: Kerala government organized a two-day investiture Kerala Global Summit As a means of attracting investment. Later in the year, Industries Minister P. Rajeev said that the state had recorded the highest conversion rate in the country in terms of converting expressions of interest into investments, with 23.16% of investment proposals at the Invest Kerala Global Summit developing into actual investments.
27 March: foundation stone was laid Township project for 2024 landslide survivors in Wayanad As part of a comprehensive rehabilitation project. It is being built on approximately 65 hectares of land. 254 people lost their lives and 128 people went missing in this disaster.
19 May: a section of National Highway 66 Caves near KuriyadMalappuram district. The collapsed portion, along with its retaining wall, fell onto a service road over a reclaimed paddy field, dividing the adjacent paddy field and creating a small hill. The collapse of newly constructed NH stretch in Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur districts and deep cracks developing on highway stretches have irked the Central and State governments, after questions were raised about public safety and technical feasibility of ambitious road projects in the state.
25 May: Liberian-flagged ship MSC ELSA 3 sinks off Kerala coastDue to which the environment and livelihood are being seriously damaged. The ship goes down with 640 containers, which include 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil, besides 13 dangerous cargoes and 12 pieces of calcium carbide. All 24 foreign crew members on board the ship have been rescued by the Navy and Coast Guard. Shipwrecks impact water quality, plankton, benthos, fish eggs and larvae and higher marine life, in addition to causing severe environmental and livelihood damage.
June 5: Raj Bhawan, now named Lok Bhawan, Emphasis on displaying the image of ‘Bharat Mata’ with saffron flag Sitting on a lion at an official event, which reportedly symbolizes the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s notion of a Hindu nation, is provoking opposition from the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. Agriculture Minister P. Prasad did not attend the event saying political symbols have no place in constitutional offices or state programmes. Within no time, it became a full-blown dispute between the state government and the Raj Bhavan.
June 9:The Singapore-flagged cargo ship MV Wan Hai 503 caught fire about 44 nautical miles off the Azhikkal coast. In Kerala, there are growing concerns about marine biodiversity and marine security. A joint rescue operation launched by the Coast Guard and Navy saved the lives of 18 people from the cargo ship. However, two crew members were seriously injured in the incident, while four others, reportedly nationals of Taiwan, Indonesia and Myanmar, who were involved in fire-fighting efforts, went missing.
14th June: One Royal Navy’s F-35B fighter jet An emergency landing was made at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The fighter plane remains parked there for more than a month, creating a lot of sensation and curiosity in India.
23 June: Witness the much talked about Nilambur assembly by-election. United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Aryadan Shaukat Defeated M. Swaraj of Left Democratic Front (LDF) by a significant margin of 11,077 votes. Left MLA-turned-independent candidate PV Anwar got 19,760 votes in the election, destabilizing the traditional political dynamics in Malappuram district.
28 June: Dr. Haris Chirakkal, head of the department of urology at Trivandrum Medical College Hospital, has created controversy by writing a post on Facebook. Highlight shortage of critical surgical equipment In the hospital. This sparks debate about features in the public health sector
2 July:Kerala University is at the center of a major controversy Registrar KS Anil Kumar had allegedly attempted to stop Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar from attending an event organized by a group linked to the Sangh Parivar at the Senate Hall. The event, organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, has become controversial due to the display of the controversial image of Bharat Mata. The issue culminates in the registrar’s suspension and brings to the fore differences between the university syndicate and VC Mohanan Kunnumal. In December, Anil Kumar was transferred back to his college as principal
7th July:Kerala government files Admiralty case in High Court against ship MSC Akitata-2which is owned by MSC Shipping Company, as security for a compensation claim of ₹9,531 crore for marine and coastal pollution, following the loss of livelihood of fishermen, and for ‘remediation’ measures following the sinking of the company’s container ship MSC Elsa-3 off the coast of Kerala on May 25.
21 July: Veteran CPI(M) leader and former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan Died at the age of 101. All across the political spectrum have united in mourning the demise of a stalwart leader, a revolutionary who acted as the voice of conscience of the people.
2 August:Senior critic and social commentator MK Sanu passes awayWho taught several generations of students and also served as a Left Front MLA in the Kerala Assembly
August 15: In a curious election for the office of Malayalam Movie Artists Association (AMMA)Actors Shweta Menon and Kukku Parameswaran have been elected president and general secretary, defeating actors Devan and Raveendran respectively.
21st August:Kerala has been declared India’s first fully digital literate stateThis marks the completion of the first phase of the Digi Kerala project, a state government program implemented across all local bodies to bridge the digital divide. The survey, conducted among 1.5 crore people from 83.46 lakh families across the state, identified 21.88 lakh people as digitally illiterate. Of these, 21.87 lakh people, comprising 99.98% participants, completed the training on using basic digital tools and successfully completed the assessment. The project was initially launched as a pilot in Pulampara Panchayat, Thiruvananthapuram in 2021 and later expanded across the state.
23 September: Versatile actor Mohanlal has been honored with the country’s highest cinema honour.Prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2023 for his contribution to Indian cinema
6 October: Alleged theft of gold from the covering of idols in Sabarimala temple Uproar in Kerala Assembly, opposition raised it in the House. Controversy erupted after the issue was raised by former temple assistant Unnikrishnan Potti. A report by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) vigilance wing has found serious flaws. The Kerala High Court constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate. SIT arrests Unnikrishnan Potti along with key TDB officials including two former presidents, both CPI(M) leaders
8 October: Kerala Assembly passed Wild Life Protection (Kerala Amendment) Bill, 2025and the Kerala Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2025, in the wake of widespread unrest over incidents of man-animal conflict across the state. It also demands changes in the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972
15 October: Industry Department unveiled Kerala Export Promotion PolicyThe Kerala Logistics Policy and the Kerala Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy, as well as the Kerala Hi-Tech Framework, aim to transform the industry sector in the state by establishing it as an attractive destination for sustainable initiatives.
19 October:Kerala Government’s decision to sign an agreement to implement PM Shri Despite the different stance taken by the PM School for Rising India, a major controversy has erupted in the schools of the state, with the ruling front’s second largest constituent CPI strongly opposing the move. CPI says the government is against the National Education Policy 2020 and PM SHRI and has been signed without any discussion in the cabinet. Ultimately the government was forced to withdraw from the MoU.
25 October: Kerala is experiencing significant growth cases of amoebic meningoencephalitis and deaths in 2024–2025, with multiple infections and multiple deaths reported, primarily attributable to the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri entering the nasal passages from contaminated fresh water. As of 25 October, the total number of cases in Kerala stood at 144 with 30 deaths.
November 1st: Kerala has been declared free from extreme povertyThe LDF government, which announced its intention to free Kerala from extreme poverty in its first cabinet meeting in 2021, took the mission forward through a grassroots process involving every local body in the state, After several levels of screening, 64,006 extremely poor households – comprising 1,03,099 individuals, many of whom lacked basic documents – were identified based on the four-point criteria of access to food, health, means of livelihood and housing, Microplans were prepared for each family and land, houses, jobs, medical treatment, medicines and palliative care facilities were provided according to individual needs,
3 November: For State Film Awards The name of the best lyricist of Vedan is basically Hirandas Murali Becomes controversial as he is accused of sexual harassment, drug abuse and illegal possession of wildlife trophies
4 December:Congress ousts its Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkuttathil from the party in the wake of a court refusing to grant him bail in a sexual harassment case. MLA faces multiple allegations of sexual crimes
8 December:A Kerala sessions court acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in a sensational kidnapping case. and the rape of a leading actress in 2017. The trial court convicted six others in the case. Dilip is accused of criminal conspiracy in the case. The government says it will appeal the decision
13 December:Congress-led UDF registers landslide victory in all three-tier local bodies The LDF’s aspirations, including those of corporations and municipalities, have suffered a serious setback in the state. UDF is ahead in 505 out of 941 gram panchayats compared to LDF’s 340. In block panchayats, the UDF has won 79 compared to the LDF’s 63. The UDF also won four of the six municipal corporations. In district panchayats, both the fronts win seven each, while out of 85 municipalities, the UDF is victorious in 54, and the LDF can win only 28. The BJP-led NDA emerged as the largest alliance, overthrowing the 45-year-old Left rule in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
17 December: The long-running bitter standoff between Lok Bhavan and the state government came to an end. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar appointed Siza Thomas as Vice Chancellor (VC) APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) and Saji Gopinath will be the VC of Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (Digital University Kerala – DUK). The agreement comes in the backdrop of Supreme Court interference in VC appointment
20 December: Actor-screenwriter-director Srinivasan passes away After a long illness. A common man’s scriptwriter, Srinivasan contributed many witty one-liners to the daily lives of Keralites.
23 December:Over 24 lakh voters have been left out of the draft voter list in Kerala Published after a Special In-depth Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (EC). However, voters whose names are missing from the draft roll can submit claims till February 21. There are 2.54 crore voters in the draft voter list.
(Compiled by Dinesh Kallungal)
