THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One of the most eagerly looked at constituencies where the candidate picture became clear the earliest, Vattiyoorkavu, is already midway through the heat of the election campaigns.
Once a stronghold of Congress, which later turned favourable for CPM, all amidst the strong growth of the BJP, the people’s verdict in Vattiyoorkavu is beyond predictions.
Congress had started its campaign in Vattiyoorkavu even before K Muraleedharan’s candidature was officially announced. Mentioning that his return to Vattiyoorkavu invokes a ‘homecoming’ feeling, Muraleedharan told TNIE that he had always kept a tab on the constituency.
“The pro-BJP attitude in the Centre helped BJP to fare well in the Lok Sabha polls, while the anti-incumbency towards the Left-led corporation benefitted them in the local body polls. However, there is a strong pro-UDF attitude now, which will turn fruitful for us,” Muraleedharan said.
Banking on the claims that development initiatives worth Rs 1,600 crore were undertaken during his tenure, LDF candidate V K Prasanth expressed confidence of securing a third consecutive win from Vattiyoorkavu.
“Both Muraleedharan and I were approachable MLAs during our respective tenures. The difference is that that I was able to bring development to the constituency,” Prasanth said. On the recent row he had with Sreelekha over their office rooms, Prasanth said it would only reduce BJP’s votes.
Meanwhile, actively attending temple festivals during the ‘ulsava’ season as part of her election campaigns, former DGP and BJP candidate Sreelekha said that she was unbothered by the political fight here, and was rather focusing on the development.
Being the only woman candidate fielded by any prominent fronts in Vattiyoorkavu, she said, “I am quite confident that I can bring in more central funds and make Vattiyoorkavu more developed.” she
said. However, she refrained from commenting on the ‘office-room’ controversy with Prasanth, terming it ‘a closed chapter’.