THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A controversy over an alleged paid crowd gathering for an election rally has triggered a war of words between rival candidates in the Vattiyoorkavu assembly constituency, where a tight triangular contest is under way.
Congress candidate K Muraleedharan has filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the state police chief against LDF candidate V K Prasanth, accusing him of orchestrating a campaign to defame UDF. The complaint comes in the wake of reports about an advertisement allegedly seeking paid participants for a Congress rally. Muraleedharan denied any knowledge of it, stating that he had never resorted to hiring people for political campaigns and it is LDF candidate’s ultimate weapon fearing he would fall to third place in the constituency.
“I have contested many elections, but this is the first time I am witnessing such a low-level attempt at character assassination. I won twice in Vattiyoorkavu without paying people. This is a desperate move by the LDF candidate fearing defeat,” said Muraleedharan. He said the CPM was resorting to “cheap tactics” anticipating a slide in its electoral position.
Responding to the allegations, Prasanth rejected Muraleedharan’s claims and turned the accusation back on the Congress. He said the advertisement must have been issued by the Congress itself due to a lack of workers.
“There are no UDF workers visible in the constituency. They are bringing in people from outside for campaigning and then trying to blame the LDF. These are baseless allegations made out of fear of defeat,” said V K Prasanth.
Prasanth also claimed that the BJP would emerge as the runner-up in the constituency, pushing the Congress to third position. He added that a senior leader like Muraleedharan should not have made such allegations without evidence.
The controversy arose from a message that reportedly surfaced on a worker-supply platform, seeking 20 people to attend a Congress rally in Vattiyoorkavu on Sunday. The message allegedly offered `511 and food to participants and asked them to be available between 5pm and 10pm. It was said to have been shared in a WhatsApp group linked to ‘Hirearn’, an app that connects employers with unskilled labourers across the state.
Following the backlash, the message was reportedly deleted. Reports said the group’s admin later claimed that it had been posted due to a misunderstanding and was not intended as recruitment for the Congress rally. Congress leaders in district also said they were unaware of such a message.