The Congress leadership had nominated Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose to contest from Idukki Lok Sabha Constituency, aiming to recapture its lost bastion. Once considered a stronghold of the Congress, Idukki had supported the LDF in three of the four Lok Sabha elections held after 1999. Riding on a strong anti-incumbency wave against the LDF government in the state, Dean won the seat by a whopping margin of 1,71,053 votes.
Speaking with Express Special Correspondent Manoj Vishwanathan, he says that he will strive to end the farm crisis and bring solace to the hundreds of families displaced by the devastating flood and a series of landslides.
It is a sweet revenge as you got an opportunity to win by a huge margin against Joice George, who defeated you in 2014. What are the factors that worked in your favour?
Though I lost the 2014 election I didn’t leave Idukki. I stayed here with the people and tried to stand with them in their hour of crisis. This helped to connect with the common man. Besides, the anti-incumbency sentiments against the LDF government in Kerala and Modi Government worked in my favour. We were expecting a margin of 1 to 1.25 lakh but it seems the people in Idukki have supported me beyond political affiliations.
Do you think the delay in rehabilitating the flood victims and the Sabarimala factor had influenced the voters.
We had noticed three factors during the election campaign, that worked in our favour. The first one was a strong desire for a secular government at the Centre. The voters rejected the LDF as the government had tried to hurt the sentiments of the people in many issues including Sabarimala. The third one was local issues including the delay in providing compensation to the flood victims and the farm crisis.
As an MP how do you plan to address these issues?
After the declaration of results, I conducted Jana Samparka Sabha at Idukki and Adimali. Hundreds of people came to the Sabha complaining about the lack of response from the government in bringing solace to the flood victims. Around 280 of the 350 major landslides that occurred in the state following the torrential rains were in Idukki. Many people have been forced to live in the houses that had developed cracks due to the landslides. They are all living in fear. The government is not ready to provide new houses for people who are living in partially damaged houses. I have compiled a report about the problems of the flood victims that will be placed before the Central government. I will try to put pressure on the Centre with the help of Congress leadership to get Cental aid for the flood victims.
How do you plan to address the farm crisis in Idukki.
I will raise the issue of farm crisis in the Parliament and strive to get a package for the revival of the agricultural sector. As the input cost has gone up, the farmers have incurred huge losses. There should be steps to ensure better prices for farm products. There should be a policy decision to reduce input cost to sustain the lives of farmers. We need to develop an infrastructure to help the farmers develop value-added products which will help them improve their income. We should help the farmers process the agriculture products and market them.
Dean Kuriakose
Age: 37 Years
Qualification: MA in Politics
Asset: D1.33Cr
Victory margin: 1,71,053
State president of Youth Congress