Congress' Kannur Assembly seat candidate Sateeshan Pacheni on Thursday filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for violating the model code of conduct.

Sateeshan Pacheni, also is also the district Congress chief, said that soon after Vijayan cast his vote on April 6 at a booth in Kannur, he said that all gods, including Sabarimala's Lord Ayyappa, rooting for the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front.

"This is a clear violation of the model code of conduct to be observed during the election. So I have registered a complaint against him," he said.

Pinarayi Vijayan's comments had also drawn ire from other leaders of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, who said Vijayan is taking Hindu believers for a ride as it was he and his government which took the lead to break the tradition and culture of the famed Sabarimala temple by taking two women in the banned age group (10 to 50) to the temple accompanied by the police in 2018, following the apex court verdict.

On April 6, Pinarayi Vijayan had spoken to media persons in the state after casting his vote, where he said that Lord Ayyappa and other gods were with the LDF government as the government was protecting people. “God is always with those who do good for the people,” he said.

Pinarayi was responding to a statement by Nair Service Society (NSS) chief G Sukumaran Nair who said “People wish to vote for those upholding secularism, democracy, social justice and those who protect the faith of people, which the LDF government was not able to do. The protests and opposition of people in the Sabarimala issue have not died down.”.

Sukumaran Nair’s comment snowballed into a big discussion with several prominent leaders reacting to Pinarayi’s comment.