THRISSUR: Disappointed by the inefficient Congress campaign that helped BJP clinch a victory in Thrissur, UDF candidate K Muraleedharan on Tuesday announced that he would stay away from active politics for a while.
Pointing out that the unprecedented failure in Thrissur was a result of a split in minority votes, he said, “There was consolidation of Muslim votes in areas like Guruvayur where UDF got lead. But, in LDF strongholds like Thanniyam and Madakkathara, BJP got the upper hand, which shows anti-LDF sentiments.”
On whether he would quit Congress, he said he would remain an obedient and ordinary Congress worker. However, he said he will not attend Congress meetings. Expressing discontent over his campaign, Muraleedharan said he had shared his concerns with the state leadership earlier. He said such drawbacks were seen across the state and the party should review it soon.
“PM Modi came to Thrissur thrice for Suresh Gopi’s campaign. Pinarayi Vijayan campaigned for Sunilkumar. But no national leader, except D K Shivakumar, came to campaign for me,” he said.
“Since I arrived in Thrissur on March 9, I couldn’t see any negative trend. I think after Thrissur Pooram, this changed. There was a conspiracy behind the pooram mess and it favoured BJP,” he said, adding he wouldn’t have felt so bad had LDF won in Thrissur. “We worked a lot to close the BJP account in Nemom. But here I contested and BJP gained huge victory,” he said. He said the split in vote share of two major communities that supported the UDF in Thrissur should be studied well.