KANNIYAKUMARI: After the Congress announced C Tharahai Cuthbert as its candidate for the by-election in Vilavancode Assembly, the party leaders here said that caste played a big role in the selection of candidates from the fishers’ community, as the majority Nadar community has been sidelined for years.
Tharahai, 47, had served as party’s Kanniyakumari west district president briefly and also held other posts, including in Congress women’s wing. She hails from Enayam Puthenthurai and belongs to Roman Catholic fishers community.
A Congress functionary from Vilavancode said that the party gave a ticket to Tharahai, an ‘outsider’ based on her caste, and not to others who worked for the party.
“The Congress initially assured tickets to candidates based on a survey conducted on the works carried out by the party cadres. However, the party sidelined those who performed well as per the survey and fielded a candidate based on caste. The work we did for the party has gone to waste. Similarly, the party had fielded another outsider, Vijayadharani, in 2011, 2016 and 2021 from Vilavancode,” the functionary said. Another Congress functionary said that the party should field candidates who belong to this constituency.