MALAPPURAM: The state conference of the Trinamool Congress, held in Manjeri on Sunday, marked a new beginning for the party in Kerala. Trinamool MPs Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra attended the conference, boosting the morale of the party workers.
The party also officially launched its membership campaign on the occasion, assuring the people of Kerala that Trinamool would be their voice in Parliament, advocating for swift solutions to the human-animal conflict and greater representation of women in the party’s Kerala unit.
However, Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra refrained from making grand claims about their prospective achievements in Kerala, stating that they do not believe in boasting but in working at the grassroots for the people. The leaders also did not clarify whether they would align with the Congress-led UDF in Kerala to oppose the CPM, as desired by the party’s state coordinator, P V Anvar.
O’Brien said it was too early to comment on a possible alliance with the UDF. “We are not here for big talks. We are here to be on the ground. Besides the discussion we had with the IUML head (Panakkad Syed Sadik Ali Shihab Thangal), the warmth and hospitality were remarkable. It is too early to speak about an alliance with the UDF. Whatever we do, we do it openly. We know better than anyone how to defeat the BJP,” he added.
Moitra assured that Trinamool would raise the issue of human-animal conflict in Parliament. “When we take up a cause, we ensure all of India hears us. In the last five years, there have been 486 deaths; in the past year alone, 58 deaths; and over the last eight years, 940 deaths because of wild animal attacks. These are alarmingly high numbers,” she said.