THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The HC verdict in T P Chandrasekharan murder case has come as a boon for the UDF in Vadakara and Kozhikode LS constituencies. The UDF leadership thinks that they could use the verdict against CPM’s politics of violence. However, the CPM is confident that the verdict will not have any effect on LS elections as over a decade has passed since the incident. The party reiterated that it has never endorsed the killing of Chandrasekharan.
By fielding K K Shailaja in Vadakara against Congress strongman K Muraleedharan, and Elamaram Kareem against the three-time winner M K Raghavan in Kozhikode, the CPM has conveyed that it is determined to take the fight to the opposition camp. “The verdict will reflect in the coming elections in Vadakara, Kozhikode and Kannur,” K Muraleedharan told TNIE. “The court verdict has reiterated CPM’s role in the killing,” he said. RMP is keen to raise the issue against Shailaja and Kareem. “It will have an impact both on Vadakara and Kozhikode,” Rema told TNIE. “Shailaja had written a statement in favour of P K Kunjananthan, a convict in TP murder case. We suspect that Elamaram Kareem also was involved in the conspiracy to murder TP,” she said.
In the 2014 parliament election that followed T P Chandrasekharan murder, Congress’ Mullappally Ramachandran won against A N Shamseer, a comparatively junior candidate that time, by a narrow margin of 3,306 in Vadakara. K Muraleedharan could secure a margin of 84,663 votes against P Jayarajan in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Vadakara in 2019. Rahul effect, the prospects of Congress coming to power and accusation against Jayarajan for his alleged role in political killings had favoured Congress in the elections.
The CPM this time took a strategic position by welcoming the court verdict and distancing itself from TP murder case. “M V Govindan’s statement welcoming the verdict has neutralised the issue,” political commentator N M Pearson told TNIE. “I don’t think the verdict will have any serious impact this time. By taking a hands-off approach to the politics raised by TP who had distanced both from UDF and LDF, K K Rema has lost the political credibility. She has joined hands with UDF. They cannot raise TP murder against CPM all the time. With the election win of Rema, the sentiments arising out of TP murder have been encashed. It can’t be repeated,” he said.
Dismissing the accusations against CPM as farce, Elamaram Kareem told TNIE that the issue would not be a subject of discussion in the coming election.
“Party has never justified the killing. A criminal act of some people cannot be termed as an action of the party,” he said.